The 5th season of the Premier Badminton League started on the 20th of January 2020 and it has been amazing. The level of Badminton being played is exceptional.
The matches and ties have all been extremely exciting. This season there are many new faces and young shuttlers who have been auctioned.
Having the younger and aspiring shuttlers be a part of such a grand event is very good, but some of the top players who didn’t take part are being missed!
Yes, being Olympics year was one of the reasons top players weren’t able to be part of this entertaining event.
So here is a list of players who weren’t part of PBL this year:
1.Saina Nehwal:
Saina Nehwal is one of India’s iconic singles players. She has been part of PBL previously and is missed this season. Saina took to Twitter to explain why she couldn’t be part of this year’s PBL. She claims that due to injuries and illnesses like pancreatitis she was taking time off to get better.
She also mentioned that she hasn’t been well for most of the year and needed to get back her fitness.
2.Srikanth Kidambi:
Just a short while after Saina Nehwal opted out of the PBL, Srikanth Kidambi did the same on Twitter. He wasn’t very specific about the exact reason he wanted to opt-out, but he said its a tough road ahead for him.
Srikanth mentions that he wanted to focus on international tournaments that will be coming this season during and after the PBL.
Considering the Olympic qualifications are on, it makes sense that he wants to focus on that.
Having him as a part of the league has been awesome, so he will be missed.
3.Ashwini Ponnappa:
Surprisingly, Ashwini Ponnappa didn’t get picked to be part of any team this year. Yup, this is quite shocking, especially when you see younger and less experienced players getting picked instead of her. Ponnappa has been consistently part of the PBL and this news has come as quite a shocker to a lot of fans.
On the other hand, Ashwini hasn’t been performing for a while now. She has had many first-round exits that may have lead team owners to believe that she may not be the best fit. Ashwini has suffered a few injuries recently, which have taken her off her game too. This also could be a reason she wasn’t picked.
4.Carolina Marin:
Having a player like Carolina not take part in this PBL is quite devastating for fans all over. Carolina Marin suffered a knee injury in 2019 that set her back ranking wise. She recently is fit and back to competing. Even though she’s performing well, her goal is to better her ranking and points.
Former Olympic gold medalist is looking at retaining her title at the Tokyo Olympics. Her full focus is to qualify and give her best performance at the Olympics. This is why she decided to opt-out of this season of the PBL
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