Did National badminton coach P. Gopi Chand think of quitting when there was a bid to clip his powers recently?
“If they wanted my services, I was available and even otherwise I would not have fought for the post,” said Gopi.
A strong faction of the Badminton Association of India reportedly had designs of installing a panel of coaches, but the move did not materialise. The BAI subsequently clarified that Gopi would remain as chief coach.
“If this sort of move were to take place a few years ago, maybe I would have fought for the post. But certainly not anymore.
Goal realised
“See, I realised my big goal after setting up my academy, to produce an Olympic medallist, when Saina [Nehwal] won the bronze in the 2012 Games.
“Then, I wanted another medallist and I’m glad that [P.V.] Sindhu went one step further and bagged a silver last year in the Rio Games.
“The results are there for everyone to see. So, there is nothing more for me to prove now or really chase any new goals as we have a set of players (men and women) who are world-beaters on their day,” said Gopi during an interview at his Gachibowli Academy here.
“The biggest challenge even now for me is to have a system which produces consistently the kind of results that are expected of us. Fortunately, I must say the panel of coaches at my academy, including Mulyo Handoyo, Siddharth Jain and Amrish Shinde, are doing a wonderful job,” said Gopi.
“Whatever results we are seeing of late, particularly in the men’s section, is because of this teamwork.
“In a way, these coaches have given me the freedom to focus on other players more now as the big names are being taken care of by this panel of coaches,” Gopi said. “The reason for setting up more academies, with coaches who have worked with me in the past at the helm, across the country is that the players in the age group of 10 to 15 generally tend to be emotional and seem to be lost if they are put up in a place far away from their homes.
“So, the idea is to make them feel at home with the sport and then have bigger plans based on their performances,” he said.
Gopi added that it was not just hours of training that went into the making of a champion.
“You need to plan the big events so well that the player doesn’t suffer from fatigue. Especially players coming back from injury, who will be quite naturally enthusiastic about taking part in all majors, need to be extra careful, for aggravating a niggle can see them out of action for crucial months,” he said.
“So, I always believe it is better to skip a major event and be fully fit than play half-fit and suffer serious injuries,” he said.
