TEAM PREVIEW: Hyderabad Hunters raring to go for the kill, but weapons not sharp enough
HYDERABAD HUNTERS, owned by Agile Security Force Pvt. Ltd. is one of the six teams that will be seen playing to win the second season of Premier Badminton League (PBL) starting from January 2nd to17th.
The winner of the inaugural season was then named Hyderabad Hotshots, in this season the city remains same but the league and players are new so they will have to fight for their title.
The hunters have the maximum number of Indian shuttlers (seven) and among them four are junior players with limited experience.
Agile Group CMD & Team Owner Dr. VRK Rao: "#HyderabadHunters has the highest number of Indian players in the league" Join #TheRoar
— HyderabadHunters (@Hyd_Hunters) December 24, 2015
That said, in their domain they are all champions and have major titles to their name. They also have former world no. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia who got the highest bid during the auction.
This will be a great opportunity for the young lads in the team to share the dressing room with a stalwart like Lee Chong Wei. The two-time silver medallist at the Olympics returned to the court with the Sudirman Cup after serving an eight month suspension for a doping violation and then went onto clinch the US Open and the Canada Open.
Top players like him do go through a bad phase as he suffered an early exit in the following three tournaments. However Lee quickly bounced back again to win the French Open and his first ever China Open. Upon winning the China Open, he created yet another record by becoming the first ever men's singles shuttler to win all the Super Series titles.
He would play a crucial role in the Trump match considering his calibre but looking from an Indian badminton fans' perspective, Parupalli Kashyap will also be in contention to play the Trump match. But the latter who was out of action for two months due to injury while playing the French Open might back-fire on the Indian. Having won just one title this year at the Indian Open Grand Prix Gold beating Srikanth in the final, his ranking has dropped to 8th from 15th.
He is looking forward for a clash against Srikanth (Bengaluru) in their opening match on 3rd January.
"I am awaiting my first match and hoping that it will be a clash against Srikanth. If we play against each other it will be an exciting game, giving the in-stadia crowd as well as the viewers an exhilarating game of badminton."
The other shuttler in the men's singles category is 16 year old Alluri Sri Sai Siril Verma who won silver medal at the World Junior Championships last month in Peru. The Gopichand Academy product, who has been training with the likes of Kashyap, Srikanth, Sindhu and Saina, already has tasted success playing in the junior category. What he has achieved at his age is commendable but with two proven shuttlers in his team, he might have to warm the bench initially.
The Hyderabad team also face challenges in the women's singles. Supanida Katethong of Thailand might have won three International series this year which are tier IV tournaments but lacks the skill to be up against mighty shuttlers like Saina or Sindhu.
The doubles category look strong as they have two of the best men's doubles and mixed doubles shuttlers in Markis Kido and Carsten Mogensen. 31-year-old Kido from Indonesia is considered as one of the leading doubles specialist. He is the 2008 Olympic Gold medallist with partner Hendra Setiawan. He will play a major role in this category and is likely to be paired with Carsten. The latter is world no. 2 in men's doubles along with partner Mathias Boe, the duo have the Silver medal at the London Olympics to their name and have also won the All England Super Series title this year.
In the mixed doubles the team will be depending on the expertise of local favourite Jwala Gutta who will be representing her hometown after playing for Delhi (Smashers) in the first season. Her notable performances will come in both women's doubles and mixed doubles as seen in the past.
Jwala played a key role along with partner V Diju in bringing the concept of doubles to limelight in India. The pair won a bronze at the Badminton Asia Championship. They also featured in the 2009 BWF Super Series Masters Final. Jwala/Diju also attained a career high ranking of no. 6.
The youngsters who could contribute to the team include K Nandagopal, the older sibling of Srikanth who plays in the doubles category. Satwik Sai Raj has also won titles to his name in both doubles and mixed doubles category (u-17 and u-19). The 20-year-old Maghana Jakkampudi is the other option for the mixed doubles contest. The other youngster in the team is Uttejitha Rao who in her discipline has done good but for a team that needs to win the title, experience and familiarity will count more.
The Hunters have a decent top line with most areas covered, barring the women's singles category. The second line looks commendable but can just about substitue if injuries strike. The Hyderabad team will be a tough opponent, but will find it difficult to get past more balanced franchises.
