GPBL 2022: Around 200 players to go under the hammer for Grand Prix Badminton League on June 12

The
GPBL,
which
has
the
blessing
of
the
Karnataka
State
Badminton
Association,
has
eight
franchises
–
Bengaluru
Lions,
Mangalore
Sharks,
Mandya
Bulls,
Mysore
Panthers,
Malnad
Falcons,
Bandipur
Tuskers,
KGF
Wolves
and
Kodagu
Tigers
who
will
be
looking
to
building
their
teams
by
choosing
their
picks.

“We
have
a
very
talented
pool
of
players.
The
field
will
comprise
players
only
from
Karnataka
for
the
first
season.
After
evaluating
all
the
entries
with
the
GPBL
panel
of
coaches,
and
governing
council,
we
have
categorized
players
into
Icon,
Tier-1
and
Tier-2
categories.

“Coaches
have
taken
several
factors,
including
but
not
limited
to
ranking,
performance
in
tournaments,
skill,
active
training,
and
Injuries
into
consideration
while
grouping
players,”
said
Prashanth
Reddy,
CEO
Bitsport
and
GPBL
Commissioner.

Each
team
comprises
of
maximum
of
eight
players
each
and
should
include
one
icon
player,
a
minimum
of
two
Tier-1
and
Tier-2
players
respectively
and
also
a
minimum
of
two
female
players
including
icon
category.

Each
team
has
a
star
mentor
including
Kidambi
Srikanth,
Sai
Praneeth,
Ashwini
Ponappa,
Chirag
Shetty,
Satwiksairaj
Rankireddy,
HS
Prannoy,
PV
Sindhu
and
Jwala
Gutta.
Double
Olympic
medallist
Sindhu
who
is
the
mentor
of
the
City
team
Bengaluru
Lions
said
from
Kuala
Lumpur
that
she
was
keen
to
see
how
the
franchises
choose
their
teams.

“This
is
the
first
season
and
I
believe
there
are
a
lot
of
talented
players
and
every
team
will
look
to
pick
a
balanced
side,”
said
the
lanky
shuttler.
“To
be
honest,
I
do
not
have
any
expectations
but
I
will
surely
guide
and
mentor
my
team
as
much
as
possible
and
if
we
win,
it
would
be
a
great
start
to
the
GPBL,”
she
added.

Accomplished
shuttlers
–
Mithun
Manjunath,
Raghu
Mariswamy,
Daniel
Farid,
Saneeth
Dayanand,
Prakash
Raj,
Sai
Pratheek,
Janani
Ananthkumar
and
Tanya
Hiremath
have
been
accorded
the
status
of
Icon
players.
While
the
player
purse
per
team
will
be
a
maximum
of
Rs
12
lakh,
the
base
fee
for
Icon
players
is
Rs
2.5
lakh
and
the
salary
cap
is
Rs
3.5
lakh.

The
minimum
salary
for
Tier-1
players
is
fixed
at
Rs
75,000
while
capping
it
at
Rs
2
lakh
while
Tier-3
players
will
earn
a
minimum
salary
of
Rs
25,000
and
a
maximum
of
Rs
50,000.

A
total
prize
money
of
Rs
60
lakh
is
at
stake
with
Rs
24
lakh
for
the
winners
while
the
runners-up
will
pocket
Rs
12
lakh.
The
semifinalists
will
get
a
cheque
of
Rs
6
lakh
apiece
while
the
5th
placed
team
will
receive
Rs
4
lakh.

The
last
three
placed
teams
will
earn
Rs
3
lakh,
Rs
2
lakh
and
Rs
1
lakh
respectively.
Apart
from
the
team
honours,
various
individual
performances
in
every
game
and
overall
season
will
be
awarded
for
which
a
sum
of
Rs
4
lakh
is
set
aside.