IBL to launch `Shuttle Express` to promote badminton

New Delhi: The event itself is yet to take flight thanks to several postponement, but the USD 1-million Indian Badminton League is set to launch a programme for school children with an aim to promote the sport at the grassroot level.

Under the Badminton League School Programme (IBLSP), star shuttlers like Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Parupalli Kashyap and P V Sindhu, among others, will visit school campuses across India to encourage around five lakh students from more than 120 schools in six different cities. The `Shuttle Express` will offer an incentive of Rs 10 lakh in prize money to the winners in both the boys and girls singles events and the event will be held in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow and Pune. Besides, the finalists in both the singles categories will also be given an opportunity to train at the world-class Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. "It is nice to see that badminton as a sport is being promoted amongst kids. `Shuttle Express` will not only generate huge interest among the young but also give them the opportunity to get their talent recognised, said London Olympic bronze medallist Saina. PTI