Saina Nehwal goes back to train under Pullela Gopichand
- Olympic bronze medal winner Saina Nehwal has resumed her partnership with former coach Pullela Gopichand
- Saina has said that she had been thinking of returning to train with Gopichand for a while and confirmed the news to everyone through Twitter
- The 27-year-old champion shuttler had split with the national coach Gopichand before the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon
FollowLondon Olympics bronze medal winning shuttler Saina Nehwal has resumed her partnership with former coach Pullela Gopichand with an aim to achieve her "future goals".
In a series of tweets, Saina has said that she had been thinking of returning to train with Gopichand for a while and confirmed the news to everyone.
For a while I've been thinking about moving my training base back to the Gopichand academy and I had a discussion about this with Gopi sir
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) September 4, 2017
and I am really thankful to him for agreeing to help me again . At this stage in my career I think he can help me achieve my goals .
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) September 4, 2017
I'm also very thankful to Vimal sir for helping me for the last three years. He helped reach world no.1 in the rankings ..
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) September 4, 2017
And also helped me win two world championships medal silver in 2015 and bronze in 2017 along with many super series titles ..
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) September 4, 2017
Vimal Kumar was her coach when she went to the World Championships in Glasgow last month, where Saina reached the semi-finals before going down to the eventual champion, Nozomi Okuhara. Under Vimal, Saina had also surged to the world No.1 spot and won two World Championship medals.
The 27-year-old champion shuttler had split with the national coach Gopichand before the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon. In 2012, she bagged the bronze medal at the London Games under Gopichand's guidance.
The Indian Express quoted coach Vimal saying. “Saina on her return from the World Badminton Championships,asked my opinion on her working with the Indonesian coach Mulyo, brought in by Sports Authority Of India, for looking after the singles players in National camps. He is attached with Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.I had indicated to her that there is no harm at all in her giving it a try.”
“Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy and Gopichand Badminton Academy are recognized training centers of SAI and we at PPBA supported Saina when she needed. My request is that the media must understand the situation and respect Saina’s decision,” he further added.
(With inputs from PTI)
