P. V. Sindhu and Sai Praneeth were recently felicitated at the Pullela Gopichand Academy for their victorious performances in Indian Open Super Series and Singapore Open respectively. Present in the felicitation ceremony was Chief National Badminton Coach, Pullela Gopichand, who seemed like one satisfied man. Many people were interested in hearing what would Pullela Gopichand say about the Indian Badminton scene.
Speaking on the recent display of phenomenal badminton by his shuttlers, he said – “Well, I think there is definitely a lot of satisfaction. But having said that the potential which the players have, I think there is a lot more which they can achieve. We are in great position and all of them are very young and have got more years of badminton left in them. It augurs very well for Indian Badminton and not many countries in the world can actually boast of the kind of players we have.”
Singapore open men’s finals saw an all India clash this year. It was for the first time in history that two Indians competed in the finals of a Super Series. India became only the fourth country to have achieved such a feat, the other three countries being China, Indonesia and Denmark.
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“We have won many medals or events first time ever in our history and I hope that we can better all of those things. Whether it is the Olympic medal color or whether consistency in terms of Super Series (tournaments) or events like the World Championships and the All England which are the prized possessions.” Gopichand added.
He was all praise for the efforts of his players but like a perfect coach was focused on the uphill task ahead – “I think, the next level would be to ensure that we win those big tournaments like Sudirman Cup and Thomas Uber Cup, and we win medals at the Asian and commonwealth Games and the Olympics. It is good that we are in a position where we think that these are achievable.”
