Even as former Olympic and World champion Taufik Hidayat has slammed the auction process of the inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL) where he was bought for only USD 15,000 by Hyderabad Hotshots, while other Indian players earned a lot more, his teammate Saina Nehwal yesterday defended the procedure.
“Taufik is a great player and there is no doubt about it. But I feel he should be happy with what he has got. He should understand that he has retired and would not get this kind of money even if he won a tournament.
Saina Nehwal
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“This is an Indian badminton league and is meant to benefit local players of this country. So, it’s good if a local player has been bought at a higher price,” Nehwal said after the Hotshots beat Pune Pistons 4-1 on Monday.
Though the World No 4 was was happy with the victory, she expressed reservations about some of the line-calls in her match against Juliane Schenk. “In the second game, I felt many points went against me. Many line judgements were ruled incorrectly.
Taufik Hidayat
“I know some human is expected, but it was not a matter of just one or two wrong calls but five or six. It’s the umpire’s duty to overrule such calls but that didn’t happen even once,” she said.u00a0
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