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  • Stars from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea confirm for IBL Auction for the Indian Badminton League to be held on July 19, 2013

    Submitted by ITV Production on Jun 29

    June 29, 2013, New Delhi: The Indian Badminton League is set to host its first and much anticipated Players Auction on July 19 in New Delhi featuring top international players from 17 nations including Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, China and Malaysia.

    Contrary to speculation in a section of the media published here today, the IBL has already received confirmation from top shuttlers from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and China in addition to 12 other leading badminton nations across continents.

    The IBL Auction will feature almost all the world top-50 players in both men?s and women?s categories and the current pool of 150 players for the auction is likely to increase as the last date for entry is July 5. The complete list of the players for the IBL Auction will be announced a week before the auction after the list is first shared with the franchisee as per the IBL?s agreement with its Franchisee partners.

    Ashish Chadha, CEO Sporty Solutionz, the ?Commercial Partner? to the IBL said on Saturday, ?We would like to keep the facts straight. A lot of effort has gone in to build the IBL and we are confident of putting up a great show as promised. For the record, seven men players in the top-10 world ranking and six players in the women?s top-10 rankings have confirmed with a total of 112 foreign players having signed up for IBL till now.?

    The IBL Players Auction is set to dazzle the bidders with a star-lineup from these countries. World No.7 and the winner of the recent Singapore Open, Indonesian?s Tommy Sugiarto leads the Indonesian parade, along with Sony Kuncoro and Lindaweni Fanetri, who are respectively the men?s world No. 10 and women?s world No.11. Hong Kong?s Hu Hyun, the men?s world No.6, Japan?s Kenichi Tago, the men?s world No.5 and women?s world No.10 Minatsu Mitani, and South Korea?s bronze medalist in the 2012 London Olympics, Lee Yong-Dae are the other top names who will figure in the bidding process.

    As expected, men?s world No.1 from Malaysia, ?Datuk? Lee Chong Wei is set to go under the hammer at the IBL Players Auction. The other top-10 men player who have confirmed are ? world No.4 Boonsak Ponsana from Thailand and Vietnam?s Tien Minh Nguyen.

    Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta, Badminton Association of India President and MP said, ?We have got a very positive response from both the sport bodies as well as the players from all the nations that we have approached. As was anticipated when we announced the League, it will witness world champions fighting it out for the title.?

    The $1-million Indian Badminton League is set to launch on August 14, 2013, with some high-voltage action expected between Hyderabad Hotshots and Karnataka Kings. The 2013 IBL will feature six franchises and will run for 18 days. Each franchise will host a two-day leg and the League will showcase a grand total of 90 matches, providing broadcasters and in-stadia spectators with more than 100 hours of LIVE ?family entertainment? which will also be viewed by a significant international audience. The matches will be held during late afternoon and evening to coincide with prime time television and providing a convenient time for the stadium audience. The LIVE IN-stadia entertainment, combined with high-octane on-court action is expected to further hook viewers onto this new adrenalin packed LIVE family entertainment format attracting a much younger fan base, which also includes women and children.

    The top four franchisee in the League will clash in the semifinals and the winners will meet in the grand final on August 31, which will be played out in Mumbai, for the richest prize money tournament in badminton till now.

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  • Masked Man - Jiggy George

    Submitted by ITV Production on Jul 14

    Collecting new designations as they go up the corporate ladder is something that is common to most executives. But, what many don't know is that these executives also harbor a secret passion of gathering collectibles. The most common being stamps and coins to airplane models, books, chess boards, comics, masks, rugs and paintings. Collector's Item refer to what executives like to collect, the places they acquire them from and how they nurture their interest on a regular basis.

    We take a peek into Cartoon Network Enterprises India and South Asia director Jiggy George's numerous collections in a variety of items. His plush office cabin is filled with a range of Cartoon Network merchandise of Johny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter and other characters.

    Apart from this, Jiggy is an avid collector of comics, coins, stamps, masks and music CDs inlays! "All of these passions have been there from a very early age. I keep collecting and the only constraint is the size of the home," he says.

    In his Pune home, the first thing that one notices is the pink wall, which sports atypical masks collected from different corners of the world. Having travelled extensively to South East Asian countries, Jiggy started collecting masks as a souvenir to remind him of all the places he had visited.

    "My Pune home has a collection of 35 odd masks that adorn a wall and are reminders of places travelled to. Besides, they are works of art from Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Nepal and even from Kerala and Orissa," he says.

    While he makes it a point to pick up masks from every country that he visits, his friends too have now started adding to his collection. "Sri Lanka is one country that I have yet to visit. But recently, one of my friends brought me a mask from there as he knows about my collection," he says.

    What's more, Jiggy has a penchant to collect comics too. "I also am huge collector of comics and that explains my love for animation! I have the complete series of M.A.D., TinTin, Asterix, Amar Chitra Katha and Calvin & Hobbes. I also have many Justice League comics and a few Dilberts, Gary Larsons and Baby Blues Books. All in all, they tot up to some 500 odd books," he reveals proudly.

    He also has a coin and stamp collection, some of which were given to him by father. But Jiggy says that these two collections have been stacked away in albums for a long time now. "I haven't added to the collection lately. As far as stamps are concerned, I own special collection of around 3000 stamps of India and Africa. I have about 100 odd coins including some rare ones that I hope will work for me as my retirement pension. These, I have been collecting as a child and even used to exchange them with like minded school friends," he says.

    An unusual passion Jiggy has is that of collecting CD inlays. "Music is my other love. An anachronism in the days of digital music, but I love inlays! I see it as an art and love to read the lyrics, the credit list and any additional information that is on it. To the extent that I have also bought books on inlays and found them very interesting. I have a collection of 2000 odd CD's, which is an eclectic mix of rock, jazz and world music," he says.

    indiantelevision.com Team
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