BENGALURU: The Premier Badminton League (PBL) is just five editions old, and Bengaluru Raptors have already stamped their authority with back-to-back titles. On Sunday, they beat North Eastern Warriors to clinch their second title. Even external factors, like matches being shifted out of Bengaluru just a few days before its kick-off, did not stop them from bringing their A-game in the fifth edition.
So, what helped them achieve such success? The coaching staff and the management, besides helping the players constantly improve, created a pressure-free environment. Their focus was on developing a strong team spirit, according to Arvind Bhat, Bengaluru coach and co-owner “Winning two times in a row is unbelievable,” Bhat said. “Some teams take it so seriously that there is stress on the players. We did not do that, but there were get-togethers in order to have a team spirit. We used to go for dinner together on quite a regular basis. The atmosphere was such that players poked fun at one another in a light manner, having a good healthy time.”
More importantly, they had done their homework before the auction. They retained 2019 World Championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth for Rs 32 lakh and broke the bank for World No 2 Tai Tzu-ying, who was bought for Rs 77 lakh. Besides, they had also signed the experienced Brice Leverdez of France for Rs 21 lakh. That meant they were banking on the singles department. With the chunk of money spent on singles players, it was imperative to be frugal elsewhere. They spent just Rs 13 lakh on the men’s doubles team of Arun George and Tak Ching Chang. However, the latter was unavailable and had been replaced by Rian Sapurto. The pair played six matches, and did not win a single match. A sacrifice the team made willingly.
But relying on Tai paid off as she remained unbeaten throughout and was deservedly adjudged the player of the league. After a tough start, Praneeth did well too. The mixed doubles pair of Chan Peng Soon and Eom Hye Won, who cost the team Rs 30 and Rs 5 lakh respectively, won six matches including the all-important Trump game in the summit clash. “We realised that all the five required combinations in the team could not be strong. All teams might have wanted to make all five areas strong, but what we did was leave out the men’s doubles and tried to have four strong areas,” Bhat said.