Saina beats former World Champion to enter All England Open Badminton Championship Semi Finals
Saina beats former World Champion to enter All England Open Badminton Championship Semi FinalsReuters

Hyderabad Hotshots will take on Banga Beats in the last match of the league stage, as the semi-finals of the Indian Badminton League (IBL) 2013 begin on Wednesday.  The match will take place at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad on Tuesday.

The match will begin at 08:00 pm IST and will be broadcast live on ESPN and Star Sports 2 channels. It also be live streamed on Star Sports official website.

Overview:

Hyderabad Hotshots will play the final league match before their home crowd. They have already entered the knockout stage. They currently have 15 points on the table after wins against Awadhe Warriors, Pune Pistons and Mumbai Masters. They will be looking forward to top the table by winning the encounter against Banga Beats on Tuesday.

Banga Beats are out of the contention for the semi-finals after losing three of the four matches played, the only win being against Awadhe Warriors. They are placed in the bottom of the table with nine points. However, they will be looking forward to end the tournament on a winning note though it will be a herculean task.

Team News:

Hyderabad Hotshots: Former World and Olympic champion, Taufik Hidayat has not played even a single match in the tournament. With the team having secured a berth in the semi-finals, he is expected to feature against Banga Beats. Team captain Saina Nehwal will be the star attraction in the women's singles while Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and Ajay Jayaram may represent the team in the men's singles.

Banga Beats: All eyes will be on team captain P. Kashyap when they take on Hyderabad Hotshots on Tuesday. He could meet Taufik Hidayat, and it will be a treat to watch them play. Carolina Marin may be pitted against Saina Nehwal.

Squads:

Hyderabad Hotshots Team List: Saina Nehwal (c) (India), Pradnya Gadre (India), Tarun Kona (India), Ajay Jayaram (India), Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia), Tanongsak (Thailand), Goh V Shem (Malaysia), Lim Khim Wah (Malaysia), Kanthi Visalakshi P (India), Shubhankar Dey (India), C. Rahul Yadav (India)

Banga Beats Team List: Parupalli Kashyap (c) (India), Hu Yun (Hong Kong), Carsten Mogensen (Denmark), Akshay Dewalkar (India), Tai Tzu-ying (Chinese Taipei), Aparna Balan (India), Carolina Marin (Spain), Arvind Bhat (India), Aditya Prakash (India), J. Meghana (India), Daniel Farid (India)