With the idea of providing exposure to talented youngsters from the national capital, Krrish Delhi Smashers have included five junior players from the city in their team for the inaugural Indian Badminton League, to be played across six cities from August 14 to 31.
Out of the five, one will be part of the team while the remaining four will be associated with the squad for gaining experience.
Local star Utkarsh Arora would be the 11th player in the Krrish Delhi Smashers squad. He is currently ranked 41st in the national junior ranking. He had also won an individual gold at the 2012 School Nationals.
According to tournament rules, an U-19 player will have to be included and will travel with the team during the competition. “The whole idea behind buying the Delhi franchise was to provide a boost to badminton in the national capital. To achieve that goal, it was essential that we provide exposure to local talent and hence we have decided to include Utkarsh. Four junior players basically will be travelling with the team,” said Vagish Pathak, co-owner of Krrish Delhi Smashers.
Another Delhi player, Mohita Sahdev, will also be part of the team. Rishabh Sahdev, Gaurav Deswal and Tushar Aggarwal are the three other players.
The Delhi squad will be led by world championship bronze medallist Jwala Gutta, while 1996 Atlanta Olympics bronze medallist Rashid Sidek of Malaysia is the chief coach.
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