Indian Badminton League: Taufik Hidayat says it`s 50-50 against Pune Pistons

Mumbai: Former Olympic and World champion Taufik Hidayat on Sunday said all the teams in the Indian Badminton League are evenly matched and that he expects a good fight against Pune franchise.

"It is (Pune) a good team in singles, mixed doubles and doubles. But we have a chance to win on Monday. It is 50:50, but we will do our best," Hidayat told reporters here, adding that all the six teams in the league are strong. The three-time Asian Games gold medallist said IBL is slowly gaining popularity and feels it will motivate youngsters. "This is the first time for Indian Badminton League. It`s quite good. So many top players are coming in like Lee Chong Wei. So many foreign players are coming. The crowd is good. It`s growing. Mostly it`s cricket (in India) but now badminton is also catching up. That is why I am happy to be coming to India and playing," he said. Hidayat said he has been impressed by some of the Indian players like Parupalli Kashyap, Ajay Jayram, Pranav Chopra and added that the women`s badminton is also coming good, especially P V Sindhu, who won bronze in the recent World Championship. The six-time Indonesian Open winner said this would be the last time he would participating in the IBL and also ruled out the possibility of coaching the Indonesian side. PTI