Clear signs of changing times in the way Badminton Association of India is functioning now?
Well, it seems so if the appointment of former consolidated coach of Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh Govardhan Reddy as the coach of the Indian team for the New Zealand Open Grand Prix to be held from August 1 to 6, is any indication.
For one who was a member of the support staff under Dronacharya S.M. Arif at Fateh Maidan Indoor Stadium here which groomed the likes of Saina Nehwal in her early days, it was belated recognition at last for a committed coach.
Govardhan, son of a former SAI employee, who worked at Begumpet SAI Centre here, has been into coaching for the last 16 years without never really hogging the limelight.
And, he quite naturally is elated with the assignment. “This is my first official assignment with the Indian team. Earlier, I had accompanied Chief Coach Pullela Gopichand to Singapore for a 45-day camp,” recalls the delighted coach, who also runs the Vishwamanya Badminton Academy at RRC Indoor Stadium in Secunderabad.
“It is a great opportunity to be with the players – many of whom I know personally and have been coaching them since their junior days. It’s going to be a learning experience for me too and I am sure it will help me in acquiring new techniques and thereby improve my own skills as a coach,” he says in a statement. He has seen and been part of the coaching team that saw the evolution of the likes of Parupalli Kashyap, Jwala Gutta and Chethan Anand.
