New Delhi: Badminton fans are in for a carnival when a galaxy of world class shuttlers from nine teams lock horns against each other in the Premier Badminton League which gets underway on Saturday in Mumbai. A total of nine teams shall be locked in an intense battle over the next one month to ultimately emerge as the champions of PBL Season 4.

The 23-day extravaganza, which is organised by Sportzlive under the aegis of the Badminton Association of India will be held across five venues, with Ahmedabad and Pune hosting matches for the first time.

The opening clash between Pune and Hyderabad teams is a high voltage tie as two of the very best female shuttlers go head to head against each other. PV Sindhu will take on her arch rival Carolina Marin as Hyderabad Hunters play the opening game of Season 4 against debutants Pune 7 Aces.

The inaugural round is being held at the NSCI indoor stadium in Worli up to December 24 while the semi finals and final would be held in Bengaluru.

Teams

Delhi Dashers, Ahmedabad Smash Masters, Awadhe Warriors, Bengaluru Raptors, Mumbai Rockets, Hyderabad Hunters, Chennai Smashes, North Eastern Warriors and debutantes Pune 7 Aces.

Star Players

PBL season shall witness a star studded field, spearheaded by multiple World Champion Carolina Marin, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, Viktor Axelsen, Son Wan Ho, HS Prannoy and Tommy Sugiarto.

A total of 90 players belonging to 17 different nations would be representing the nine teams. Pune 7 Aces shall be making their debut in the league. The field seems to be extremely competitive with 8 of the World's top 10 rankings featuring in the league this season.

Cash Prize

The nine teams shall be vying for top honours and a whopping Rs 3 crores cash reward, which is up for the taking. While the champions pocket Rs 3 crore, the runners-up fetches Rs 1.5 crore and the 3rd and 4th pacers get Rs 75 lakh each.

Squads:

Ahmedabad Smash Masters: Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), Anoushka Parikh, Sikki Reddy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Lee Chun Hei (Hong Kong), Kidambi Nandagopal, Kirsty Gilmour (Scotland), Vaishnavi Bhale, Darren Liew (Malaysia), Sourabh Verma.

Awadhe Warriors: Son Wan Ho (South Korea), Ashwini Ponnappa, Mathias Christiansen (Denmark), Lee Yang (Chinese Taipei), Beiwen Zhang (USA), Lee Dong Keun (South Korea), Sanyogita Ghorpade, Gurusaidutt, Rasika Raje, MR Arjun.

Bengaluru Raptors: Kidambi Srikanth, Mohd Ahsan (Indonesia), Hendra Setiawan (Indonesia), Sai Praneeth, Mithun Manjunath, Lauren Smith (England), Sanjana Santosh, Marcus Ellis (England), Vu Thi Trang (Vietnam), Nygun Tien Minh (Vietnam).

Chennai Smashers: Sung Ji Hyun (South Korea), Gabby Adcock (England), Rutaparna Panda, Chris Adcock (England), Sumeeth Reddy, Saili Rane, Rajiv Ouseph (England), Parupalli Kashyap, Or Chin Chung (Hong Kong), Chong Wei Feng (Malaysia).

Delhi Dashers: HS Prannoy, Tommy Sugiarto (Indonesia), Chai Biao (China), Wang Sijie (China), Maneepong Jongjit (Thailand), Harika V, Evgeniya Kosetskaya (Russia), Vignesh Devlekar, Chirag Sen, Lee Chia Hsin (Chinese Taipei).

Hyderabad Hunters: PV Sindhu, Eom Hye Won (South Korea), Kim Sa Rang (South Korea), Bodin Issara (Thailand), Sai Uttejitha Rao, Lee Hyun il (South Korea), Arun George, Meghna J, Mark Caljouw (Netherlands), Rahul Yadav.

Mumbai Rockets: Lee Yong Dae (South Korea), Pia Zebadiah (Indonesia), Kim Gi Jung (South Korea), Sameer Verma, Shriyanshi Pardeshi, Anders Antonsen (Denmark), Kuhoo Garg, Manu Attri, Pratul Joshi, Anura Prabhudesai.

North Eastern Warriors: Saina Nehwal, Kim Ha Na (South Korea), Yoo Yeon Seong (South Korea), Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Thailand), Tian Houwei (China), K Maneesha, Liao Min Chun (Chinese Taipei), Dhruv Kapila, Siril Verma, Rituparna Das.

Pune 7 Aces: Carolina Marin (Spain), Chirag Shetty, Mathias Boe (Denmark), Vladimir Ivanov (Russia), Line Kjaersfeldt (Denmark), Lakshya Sen, Brice Leverdez (France), Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Indonesia), Ajay Jayaram, Prajakta Sawant.