PBL 2020: Bengaluru Raptors express inability to host semis, final in city citing unavailability of venue

Bengaluru: Bengaluru Raptors on Thursday expressed their inability to host the final and semi-finals of the upcoming Premier Badminton League (PBL) due to “unavailability” of venue. In a series of tweets, Bengaluru Raptors made it clear that due to the unavailability of the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, they might not be able to host the scheduled matches.

1/5 Dear badminton players and Bengaluru Raptors fans, unfortunately it looks like this year we may not be able to have the Premier Badminton League finals in Namma Bengaluru. We have been requesting availability of Kanteerava stadium for several months now.

— Bengaluru Raptors (@blr_raptors) January 9, 2020

“Dear badminton players and Bengaluru Raptors fans, unfortunately it looks like this year we may not be able to have the Premier Badminton League finals in Namma Bengaluru. We have been requesting availability of Kanteerava stadium for several months now,” the franchise wrote on their Twitter handle. They blamed it on some officials at the Kanteerava, who, the franchise alleged, were “doing their very best to sabotage this event from happening”. The upcoming edition of the PBL is scheduled to start on 20 January when reigning world champion PV Sindhu’s team Hyderabad Hunters faces Chennai Superstarz in Chennai. A total of 24 ties will be played in 21 days in four different cities. “It’s a real shame that badminton fans in the city are going to be deprived of this opportunity to watch the best players in the world — Sindhu and Tai Tzu play. We have written to the Chief Minister’s office requesting their intervention and help resolve this issue,” the Raptors tweeted. After the first leg in Chennai, the league will move to Lucknow on 25 January, followed by Hyderabad, with Bangalore then being the host for the semi-finals and the final on 9 February.