Pullela Gopichand has been the coach for Indian badminton team for 13 years. Gopichand started a gurukul with a world-class infrastructure for badminton in Hyderabad. Gopi intends to ingrain in every player's consciousness that they are India's warriors on the courts.
In the world of Indian sport, national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand is usually referred to as Buddha, for his monk-like demeanor and an extremely focused approach to the objective at hand.
On Independence Day, Buddha became The Laughing Buddha. As his protege Kidambi Srikanth scored the last point to shut the Olympics on Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark, ranked six places above him and entered the quarter-finals, Gopi let out an ecstatic cry of joy and relief, hugged Srikanth, thumped his back and laughed.
One more box in Gopichand's 13-year-long career as badminton coach had been ticked. Now he had Lin Dan to deal with next.
In modern Indian sport, no other player has made such a successful transition to coaching. Starting from scratch, Gopichand started a gurukul in Hyderabad and made it a world-class infrastructure for badminton. He, under one roof, created all that was denied to him during his days as a shuttler. Which is why the two buildings that house the academy in Hyderabad have a swimming pool, health club, rehab and wellness centre, a football ground, running track, ice and steam bath facilities, jacuzzi and a cafeteria.
Gopi's aim was to create a pool of players to take on the world and ensure Indians were no longer tourists on the circuit. He says during his days as a badminton player, his efforts to train at similar academies abroad were rebuffed as an outsider who could challenge the home boys was not encouraged. Which is why he has copied the Chinese template to create champions in India.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be happy to know that Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy is truly a 'Made in India' product. A private endeavor that the government has seen merit in supporting financially.
Nothing of the sort was available in India during Gopichand's generation. At the time of Srikanth's match, the TV commentator was heard saying that 8000 shuttlecocks are being used at the Rio Olympics. Gopi, in his playing days, would have jumped at the figure. Because back then, he would plead with officials at tournaments abroad to let him carry back used shuttlecocks to practice with them back home. Every time customs officials at Hyderabad airport would ask him "Anything to declare?" and when Gopi would open his bag, they would be amused to find boxes of shuttlecocks.
"Shuttlecocks were to be used carefully because we would not get many of them from the Sports Authority," Gopichand told me once. "That meant you could not practice any smashes because if you hit 3-4 powerful smashes, the bird would be left with no feathers."
The other big challenge for Gopi was to hire a battery of professional and talented coaches. Tough because there were not many available with court experience. He did not want any of the lazy advice coaches gave him when they traveled with him abroad.
"Do not hit the shuttle into the net", "Play carefully", "Watch the shuttle and hit" were the quality of laughable tips he got on the court, mid-game. All that has changed now, with coaches - both Indian and foreign - who sit on the sidelines making mental notes and guiding strategy to be implemented on the court. Badminton is like hockey now.
Considered as one of the most astute minds in the game today, Gopi leads by example. He is the first person to reach the academy at 4 am every day, ready for early birds like PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and P Kashyap. He believes there is no 'one size fits all' which is why the senior players get individual attention from him. By the time Hyderabad wakes up, Gopi makes every bead of sweat count.
Extremely fit at 42, Gopi is still a cunning sparring partner on the court who makes the player think how to outwit him. By the time he calls it a day at 7 pm, he tries to ensure that Team India is one step closer to a podium finish. Every day.
Gopi's commitment is not just to Indian badminton. When sprinter Dutee Chand did not have a place to stay while training in Hyderabad, he offered her space at the Academy, providing her with the right ecosystem to train for Rio.
Twice a week, the players get together at the Academy to sing the National anthem together, a practice for many years now. Gopi's intention is to ingrain in every player's consciousness that they are India's warriors on courts across the world. And the badminton racquet their weapon.
