The Taekwondo Premier League’s first edition will take place from June 22- 26 with twelve teams competing for a prize pool worth ₹15 lakhs, as well as various individual awards, according to Dr. Venkata K. Ganjam, Founder Director of the League.
The TPL is notable for having four women team owners, namely: former Miss India Asia Pacific and Miss Asia Pacific World Srishti Rana (Haryana Hunters), Ruchita Mittal (Maharashtra Avengers), a diamond businesswoman, Shilpa Patel (Bengaluru Ninjas), an entrepreneur in hospitality, and Isha Patel (Chennai Strikers).
The league’s logo was unveiled recently in Hyderabad in the presence of other team owners such as Global Sports owner, Shyam Patel(Delhi Warriors), Chairman of iMark Developers, Allu Venkat Reddy(Hyderabad Gliders), internationally renowned social activist Vijay Kumar Bhansali(Gujarat Thunders), and Mr. India 2006, Bijit Gogoi(Assam Heroes).
“The Taekwondo Premier League is a team-based event, with each group featuring five members including a captain, and every contest consisting of five rounds lasting 1.30 minutes, with an additional strategic time of half a minute. The league has been restricted to the 58.1kg-67.9kg category,” explained Founder Director Duvvuri Ganesh.
“All ranked players from across India have been selected for the league which will be telecast live on Doordarshan Sports,” he added. “We anticipate the league will be immensely successful as it has been highly anticipated. We plan to have a similar tournament at an international level as well,” said Mr. Ganesh.
“Taekwondo is a well-liked sport in India with over 1 million registered players, this will be an excellent opportunity for players to improve their abilities,” said Founder-Director Navneetha Bachu.
“I’ve been connected to Taekwondo for almost two decades. I’m glad to see the Taekwondo Premier League take shape,” she added.
Suresh Chukkapalli, honorary Consul General of the Republic of Korea, hopes that the league will bring in a new era for the sport in India.