PV Sindhu’s bronze-medal winning effort at the World Championships in the second week of August generated a lot of frenzy. Fans were quick to latch on to the fact that badminton in India was about to rise a notch higher, now that reigning queen Saina Nehwal, was finally going to have a local challenger.u00a0

And, the inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL) that began soon after the tournament in Guangzhou, China, could not have asked for a better advertisement for their venture. As luck would have it, Nehwal and Sindhu’s respective teamsu00a0--u00a0Hyderabad Hotshots and Awadhe Warriorsu00a0--u00a0were scheduled to play on the second day of the competition and expectations of a humdinger rented the air.

Hyderabad Hotshots’ Saina Nehwal. Pic/Rajeev Tyagi