Badminton player Ashwini Ponnappa was aghast when she was sold at much lesser than her base price at the auction for the upcoming Indian Badminton League (IBL).

Pegged at a base price of $50,000, Ashwini fetched just half of that when she was sold to the Pune Pistons, despite being among the icon players of the tournament.

While the IBL will pay her the differential, what irks Ashwini is that there was no communication about lowering the price. “I wasn’t informed about it. Even if there is no women’s doubles event, it doesn’t explain their actions because Jwala (Gutta) and I’ve been performing very well. In the mixed doubles arena, my partner Tarun Kona and I have the highest international ranking.”

Does that mean that she won’t be a part of the tournament? “I will keep my commitment to play the league, irrespective of whether they keep up their end of the bargain or not,” she says.

Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, meanwhile, got their base price. “All icon players need to be treated the same. If you are calling a player an icon, it must have been based on performance, and Jwala and I have been performing consistently. There is no need to discriminate between players based on price,” she says.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Sports> More Sports / by Taniya Talukdar, TNN / July 25th, 2013