"Nobody wants her! Nobody is interested in her! Her base price is just 5,000 dollars," international auctioneer Bob Hayton repeated this several times during the Indian Badminton League (IBL) women's auction in the Capital yesterday.
The words led to sporadic laughter and some murmurs in the gathering. Yet, each time Hayton added the professional post script, “She is a champion.”
Bob Hayton in action yesterday
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“In a country like India, I am always very alert and careful about what words I use. Asia is different from Europe. You have to be very careful when you conduct auctions for woman players here.
Now, in Dubai, in front of the sheikhs you cannot say, ‘Don’t let him have this, sir.’ You can’t do that. This could be very offensive,” the UK-based fine art auction expert, told MiD DAY.
Besides the cultural challenges that different places bring, Hayton, who also conducted the Hockey India League player auctions in New Delhi, feels pronouncing Indian and Asian names correctly was another big challenge for him.
Yet, he was at ease when he announced tongue-twisting names like Parupalli Kashyap or Sapsiree Taerattanachai’s during bidding.
“I go through all these names many times. I read and pronounce names loudly over and over again. In this way, I prepare myself and have been doing so since 30 years,” ended the thorough professional.
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