Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal has lashed out at Hyderabad Hotshots team-mate and former world champion Taufik Hidayat over his comments criticising the auction process of the inaugural Indian Badminton League.
Hidayat was unhappy that many foreign players were bought for their base prices while the less experienced Indian counterparts fetched higher amounts.
“I felt bad when for the first time I saw on TV how much a player was bought for. I felt the IBL didn’t treat the foreign players in the right manner,” Hidayat, who was bought for his base price of $15000, had said.
Saina, who is also Hyderabad’s icon player and captain, said that Hidayat should accept the fact that he has retired. The three-time Asian champion from Indonesia suffered a defeat in his maiden game against Delhi Smasher’s Liew Daren. “He (Hidayat) should accept it that he has retired now so you can’t get the highest base price... It’s a negative thing to speak like this,” said Saina.
The Hyderabadi countered Hidayat’s claim about rankings by citing world no. 1 Lee Chong Wei’s example who was bought for $135,000 by Mumbai Masters, the highest sum at the auction.
“I think the world number one got the highest price. I don’t think there is anything unfair about it,” she said.