Sahara buys IBL's Lucknow franchise

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Lucknow: Sahara India Pariwar today joined the Indian Badminton League (IBL) as it bought the Lucknow franchise ahead of the inaugural first-of-its-kind event in the sport to be played August 14 to 31.A major business conglomerate and the prime promoter and patron of sports in India, Sahara's Lucknow franchisee will be one of the six teams to be competing in the championship.Speaking on the occasion, Subrata Roy Sahara Managing Worker & Chairman of the company said, "We are proud to associate with this initiative of Badminton Association of India. Indian Badminton League will boost the sports of Badminton and will redraw the attention of people towards it."I am sure that sure that the league will also help in identifying fresh talent and will give a platform of international standard for grooming and competing, eventually bringing laurels to our beloved nation."Akhilesh Das, president, Badminton Association of India, said, "I am grateful to 'Saharasri' and Sahara India Pariwar, for coming forward in support of Badminton. The Group has always accorded priority to various forms of sports and I hope this will encourage other corporates to come forward in support of the game of Badminton."Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore and Lucknow are the six cities that will feature in the first edition of IBL.Each franchise will host a two-day leg and the USD one million event will have a grand total of 90 matches. The top four franchises will clash in the semifinals and the winners will meet in the grand final on August 31 in Mumbai.