Mumbai: Terming last month's Indian Badminton League as a game-changer, former doubles specialist Sanjay Sharma said it would benefit the young generation of Indian
shuttlers a lot.
"IBL is the real, big game-changer that has happened in the badminton history of India. It happened at the right time and badminton is the only sport that could have done this,
apart from cricket," Sharma told PTI.
"The next generation players like Sai Praneeth, Prannoy Kumar, K Srikanth, Sourabh Varma etc travelled with the likes of Lee Chong Wei, Julaine Schenk, and also practised and trained with them. So the knowledge that these players got would benefit Indian badminton and they too would benefit from this," said the former national captain.
The inaugural edition of the IBL was held from August 14 to 31, with the Saina Nehwal led-Hyderabad Hotshots clinching the trophy.
Sharma said that reigning national under-19 singles champion Harsheel Dani got the golden opportunity to rub shoulders with world no.1 Lee Chong Wei, which would be very
beneficial for the young Indian shuttler.
"Harsheel Dani got the opportunity to spar with Lee Chong Wei in Bangalore, the help that he got from talking to Lee Chong Wei and learning something from what he saw while Wei was ractising is invaluable," said Sharma, a former men's double national champion.
He also said it was good to have two Indian women players in the top 10 of the world rankings.
"It is fantastic. You have got two women in the top ten. They should have a healthy rivalry. After all, sports is about healthy rivalry. You have one 23-year old (Nehwal) who has been in the top rankings since the age of 19, and one 18-year old (P V Sindhu) who has found her feet in the top ten rankings. She still has to mature a bit," Sharma said.
