Pullela Gopichand

Last updated

Pullela Gopichand
Pullela Gopichand 2016 (cropped).jpg
Personal information
Country India
Born (1973-11-16) 16 November 1973 (age 50)
Nagandla, Andhra Pradesh, India
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Weight68 kg (150 lb)
HandednessRight
Men's Singles
Highest ranking5 [2]  (15 March 2001)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing Flag of India.svg  India
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1998 Kuala Lumpur Men's team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1998 Kuala Lumpur Men's singles
Asian Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2000 Jakarta Men's singles
BWF profile

Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is an Indian former badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team [3] . He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, [4] becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone. [5] [6] He runs the Gopichand Badminton Academy. [6] He received the Arjuna Award in 1999, the Khel Ratna Award (highest sporting honor in India) in 2001, the Dronacharya Award in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award – in 2014. [7] [8] He is the only Indian coach to win the "Honorable Mention" by the International Olympic Committee at the 2019 Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards. [9]

Contents

Early life

Pullela Gopichand was born on 16 November 1973 near Chirala Town to Mr. Pullela Subash Chandra and Mrs. Pullela Subbaravamma, in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh. [10] Initially, he was interested in playing cricket, but his elder brother encouraged him to take up badminton instead. [10] His family settled in Nizamabad for a while. He did his schooling in St. Paul's High School, Hyderabad. He joined A. V. College, Hyderabad and graduated in public administration. He was the captain of the Indian combined universities badminton team in 1990 and 1991.

Playing career

Pullela was mainly coached by S. M. Arif. He is also trained under Prakash Padukone, and Ganguly Prasad at the SAI Bangalore. [11] [12] Pullela won his first National Badminton Championship title in 1996, and went on to win the title five times in a row, until 2000. He won two gold medals and one silver medal at the Indian national games, 1998, held at Imphal. At the international level, he represented India in 3 Thomas Cup tournaments. In 1996, he won a gold in the SAARC badminton tournament at Vijayawada and defended his crown in the next games held at Colombo in 1997. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games, he won a silver in the team event and a bronze in men's singles.

In 1999, he won the Toulouse Open Championship in France and the Scottish Open Championship in Scotland. He also emerged as the winner at the Asian satellite tournament held at Hyderabad in the same year, and lost in the final match of the German Grand Prix Championship.

In 2001, he won the All England Open Badminton Championships at Birmingham. He defeated then world number one Peter Gade in the semi-finals before defeating Chen Hong of China to lift the trophy. [13] He became the second Indian to achieve the feat after Prakash Padukone, who won in 1980. [14]

Achievements

Asian Championships

Men's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2000 Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Flag of Indonesia.svg Taufik Hidayat 4–15, 12–15 Med 3.png Bronze

Commonwealth Games

Men's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
1998 Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Flag of Malaysia.svg Wong Choong Hann 1–15, 11–15 Med 3.png Bronze

IBF World Grand Prix

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.

Men's singles

YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
1997 India Open Flag of Indonesia.svg Hariyanto Arbi 4–15, 7–15 [15] Silver medal icon.svgRunner-up
1999 French Open Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Chen Gang 8–15, 15–10, 10–15 [16] Silver medal icon.svgRunner-up
1999 German Open Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Xia Xuanze 3–15, 15–13, 4–15 [17] Silver medal icon.svgRunner-up
2001 All England Open Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Chen Hong 15–12, 15–6 [18] Gold medal icon.svgWinner

IBF International

Men's singles

YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
1999 Le Volant d'Or de Toulouse Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Richard Vaughan 15–13, 14–15, 15–6 [19] Gold medal icon.svgWinner
1999 Scottish Open Flag of India.svg Siddharth Jain 15–7, 15–10 [20] Gold medal icon.svgWinner
1999 India International Flag of India.svg Ajit Wijetilek 15–6, 15–13 [21] Gold medal icon.svgWinner
2004 India Asian Satellite Flag of India.svg J. B. S. Vidyadhar 15–6, 15–1 [22] Gold medal icon.svgWinner

Coaching career

Pullela (left) and Kidambi Srikanth (middle) with the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Vijay Goel, c. 2017. Badminton Player Srikanth Kidambi along with Pullela Gopichand calling on the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports (IC), Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Shri Vijay Goel, in New Delhi.jpg
Pullela (left) and Kidambi Srikanth (middle) with the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Vijay Goel, c. 2017.

After retiring from his playing career, Pullela founded the Gopichand Badminton Academy in 2008 after reportedly mortgaging his own house. [23] Nimmagadda Prasad, a renowned industrialist, donated ₹50 million (equivalent to ₹170 millionorUS$2.0 million in 2023) on a condition that his academy win a medal for India at the Olympics in badminton. [24] The academy produced several badminton players including Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu, Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap, Srikanth Kidambi, Arundhati Pantawane, Gurusai Datt, and Arun Vishnu. [25] Saina Nehwal went on to win the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, while P. V. Sindhu went on to win the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics [26] , the bronze medal at the pandemic-hit 2020 Summer Olympics [27] , and also became the first Indian to win the gold medal at the BWF World Championships. Pullela also served as the official Indian Olympic Badminton Team coach at the 2016 Rio Olympics held in Brazil. [23]

Contributions to Indian athletics

In 2003, Pullela started promoting running through a 10K run Foundation by arranging the annual run also conducting training programmes for budding athletes. To help some of the poorer athletes, he arranged weekly runs and giving cash prizes to participants. He tied up with National Athletics Coach Nagpuri Ramesh to train and mentor these budding athletes. He also tied up with the Mytrah Group, a renewable energy company and started the Gopichand-Mytrah Foundation. The foundation identifies talented athletes and trains them, along with providing them with accommodation, food and transportation. [28] [29]

The efforts have been successful with a number of their athletes earning national and international medals, like Deepthi Jeevanji (World record holder in the 400m T20 category), Nandini Agasara (Bronze medalist in the Heptathlon event of the 2022 Asian Games), Rangali Swathi, Kunja Rajitha (400m Gold Medalist in Indian Youth Games 2022) [30] . [28]

Awards and honours

Pullela (left) is awarded the Padma Shri by President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, c. 2005. The well-known Badminton player Shri Pullela Gopi Chand receives the Padma Shri award from the President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in New Delhi on March 28, 2005.jpg
Pullela (left) is awarded the Padma Shri by President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, c. 2005.

Rewards for Coaching the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics silver medallist P. V. Sindhu

Personal life

Pullela married fellow badminton player P. V. V. Lakshmi on 5 June 2002. [36] They have two children, a daughter named Gayathri and a son named Vishnu.

In Dec 2020, he launched guided meditation sessions for athletes named "Dhyana for Sports" in the App Dhyana. The sessions have been designed by him based on his experience training athletes. He is also the Director of Dhyana. [37] Dhyana, in collaboration with Heartfulness Institute, was the official meditation partner of the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) for Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. [38]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dronacharya Award</span> Indian sports award

The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India. He was master of advanced military warfare and was appointed as the royal preceptor to the Kaurava and the Pandava princes for their training in military arts and astras. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Recipients are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and are honoured to have done "outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and enabled sportspersons to excel in international events" over a period of four years. Two awards are designated for the lifetime contribution in coaching where the achievements in producing "outstanding sportspersons" over a period of 20 years or more are considered. As of 2020, the award comprises a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh (US$18,000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saina Nehwal</span> Indian badminton player

Saina Nehwal is an Indian professional badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was able to attain the world no. 1 ranking, thereby becoming the only female player from India and thereafter the second Indian player – after Prakash Padukone – to achieve this feat. She has represented India three times in the Olympics, winning a bronze medal in her second appearance at London 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satpal Singh</span> Indian wrestler and coach

Satpal Singh, also known as Guru Satpal, is a wrestling coach and former wrestler of India. He was a gold medalist in 1982 Asian Games and a bronze medalist in 1974 Asian Games. Today he is better known as the coach of Olympic medal winners Sushil Kumar and Ravi Kumar Dahiya.

Syed Mohammed Arif, popularly known as Arif Saahab, is an Indian badminton coach. He is a recipient of Dronacharya Award and Padma Shri Award by the Government of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parupalli Kashyap</span> Indian badminton player

Parupalli Kashyap is an Indian badminton player. A former World No.6, he trains at Gopichand Badminton Academy. He was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Government of India in 2012.

Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy (PGBA) is a badminton training facility in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Founded in 2008 by the 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion, Pullela Gopichand, the facility trains several badminton players such as Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi, Parupalli Kashyap, H.S. Prannoy, Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma and many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. V. Sindhu</span> Indian badminton player

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is an Indian badminton player. Considered one of India's most successful sportspersons, Sindhu has won medals at various tournaments such as the Olympics and on the BWF circuit, including a gold at the 2019 World Championships. She is the first and only Indian to become the badminton world champion and only the second individual athlete from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games. She rose to a career-high world ranking of no. 2 in April 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badminton in India</span>

Badminton is a popular sport in India. Badminton in India is managed by the Badminton Association of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purnima Mahato</span> Indian archer and coach

Purnima Mahato is an Indian archer and archery coach from Jamshedpur, India. She has won the Indian national archery championships and a silver medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. She was a coach for the Indian national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics and was selected to coach the team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was awarded Dronacharya award from President of India for 2013 on 29 August 2013. She will be conferred with the Padma Shri 2024, India's fourth highest civilian award, for her work in the field of Sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arun Vishnu</span> Indian badminton player

Arun Vishnu is a former Indian badminton player, from Calicut, Kerala, who represented India in several international tournaments. He partnered with Aparna Balan and Alwin Francis in mixed doubles category and men's doubles category respectively. His career best world ranking was 37 and 41 in men's doubles and mixed doubles category respectively. Since 2016 he is coach of Indian National Badminton Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Srikanth Kidambi</span> Indian badminton player

Srikanth Kidambi is an Indian badminton player. A former world no. 1, Kidambi was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2018. and the Arjuna award in 2015. In 2021, he became the first Indian to reach the World Championship final in the men's singles discipline.

Sports in Andhra Pradesh has its own importance, where many sporting personalities were into limelight. The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) undertakes the sports development activities such as construction of stadiums, establishment of sports academies and other sporting related activities. The sports infrastructure have increased tremendously by improving infrastructure in outdoor and Indoor stadiums, play fields, sports academies, sports equipments etc. Traditional sports such as kho kho, kabaddi are played mostly in Andhra Pradesh.Most sports players from Andhra pradesh represent national level competitions and very few international competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadde Ruthvika Shivani</span> Indian badminton player

Gadde Ruthvika Shivani is an Indian badminton player who currently plays singles. She trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. V. Ramana</span> Indian volleyball player

Pusarla Venkata Ramana is a former professional volleyball player and an employee of Indian Railways in Secunderabad. He was a member of the India men's national volleyball team. In the 1986 Asian Games, he was part of the team that won a bronze medal. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2000 for his contribution to Indian volleyball.

Pandimukkala Venkata Vara Lakshmi, better known as P. V. V. Lakshmi, is an Indian former badminton player. She is an eight-time Indian national champion in badminton and represented India in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She is also the wife of Pullela Gopichand. She was the bronze medalist in badminton at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in the Women's Team event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gayatri Gopichand</span> Indian badminton player

Pullela Gayatri Gopichand is an Indian badminton player. She is the daughter of former badminton players P. V. V. Lakshmi and Pullela Gopichand. She was part of the national team that clinched the women's team gold medal at the 2019 South Asian Games, and a silver in the women's singles. She also competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, winning a silver in the mixed team and a bronze medal in the women's doubles. Gopichand became the first woman Indian doubles specialist to make the semi-finals of All England Open 21 years after her father's feat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manasi Joshi</span> Indian para-badminton player

Manasi Girishchandra Joshi is an Indian para-badminton player. She is a former world champion in para badminton women's singles SL3 category. On 8 March 2022, she was ranked world No.1 in women's singles SL3 category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaurav Khanna (badminton)</span> Indian para-badminton team coach

Gaurav Khanna is the Indian para-badminton team's head coach. Shri Gaurav Khanna has been widely recognized as the Man behind the rise of Para Badminton in the country. Born on 11 December 1975, Shri Khanna encountered several trials and tribulations during his youth and early life, but his desire propelled him onward, and despite all obstacles, he emerged as a selfless individual driven to make a positive difference in the lives of others. His chronicle of battles that led to him becoming a role model for society is also included in the National Geographic documentary series #One For Change.

Agus Dwi Santoso is a badminton coach from Indonesia who is specialized in coaching Men's and Women's Singles. From 1998 to 2003, Agus Dwi Santoso occupied the National Training Center of Indonesia and coached the men's singles team. In 2010 Santoso was once again hired as Indonesia's men's singles coach at the Pelatnas PB PBSI Cipayung Training Centre. In between his stints for the National association he was a clubtrainer for PB Djarum Kudus, where he managed to make a few clubathletes brilliant. Among them are Andre Kurniawan Tedjono, Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka and Riyanto Subagja, who under his guidance were able to beat several international top players. Other players who coached under Santoso in the past are also Indonesian two-time World Championships medalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro and All England finalist Budi Santoso.

References

  1. ↑ "Pulella Gopichand". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Historical Ranking". Badminton World Federation . Retrieved 7 February 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ "Chief National Coach P. Gopichand, India National Badminton Team calls on Governor Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati | Raj Bhavan Mizoram | India" . Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  4. ↑ "Pulella Gopichand". mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  5. ↑ "P Gopichand". The Times of India . 11 December 2002. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  6. 1 2 "Pullela Gopichand – The Founder". Gopichand Badminton Academy. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  7. 1 2 "LIST OF ARJUNA AWARD WINNERS". Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  8. 1 2 "Pullela Gopichand thanks Badminton Fraternity for Padma Bhushan". IANS. Biharprabha News. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "Olympics honor Gopichand" . Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  10. 1 2 "Pullela Gopichand – Badminton Player". webindia123.com. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  11. ↑ "His hard work and dedication has paid off". The Tribune. 11 March 2001. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  12. ↑ "Still a crusader". The Tribune. 15 April 2001. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  13. ↑ Our Correspondent in Birmingham (10 March 2001). "Gopichand enters All-England final". rediff.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  14. ↑ "Randhawa's wait for Padma Shri ends". The Tribune . 26 January 2005. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  15. ↑ "India Open 1997 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation . Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "French Open 1999 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation . Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "German Open 1999 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation . Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "All England Open 2001 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation . Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  19. ↑ "Open de Toulouse Int 99 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation . Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  20. ↑ "Scottish Int 1999 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation . Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "India International 99 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation . Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "Indian Asian Satellite 2004: Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation . Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  23. 1 2 "How Indian badminton rocketed on the Gopichand shuttle". The Hindu. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  24. ↑ "All that went into the making of Gopichand Academy". The Hindu. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  25. ↑ Dua, Aarti (1 August 2010). "Star maker". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  26. ↑ "PV Sindhu reminisces how her life changed after winning Olympic silver on Aug 20 seven years ago". The Times of India. 20 August 2023. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  27. ↑ "PV Sindhu won Bronze medal in Olympics, 2020, Tokyo".
  28. 1 2 "Off the badminton court, Gopichand sparks an athletics revolution". Times of India. 7 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  29. ↑ "Off the badminton court, Gopichand sparks an athletics revolutionGopi Chand project to help talented athletes". The Hindu. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  30. ↑ "Tribal teen Rajitha from Andhra Pradesh village wins gold at Khelo India". New Indian Express. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  31. ↑ "Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards: Full list of winners".
  32. ↑ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  33. ↑ "Dronacharya award is a responsibility: Gopichand | Badminton News - Times of India". The Times of India . 21 July 2009.
  34. ↑ "National Sports Awards to be Presented on 31st August, 2013". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  35. ↑ IANS (19 August 2016). "Rio 2016: BAI announces cash awards for 'Silver' Sindhu, Coach Gopichand". mykhel.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  36. ↑ "rediff.com sports: Gopichand to wed PVV Lakshmi". www.rediff.com.
  37. ↑ Arora, Devesh (10 December 2020). "Dhyana app brings Pullela Gopichand as mental fitness trainer: Here's what you need to know". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  38. ↑ Tewari, Saumya (21 July 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Dhyana partners Heartfulness Institute for Indian contingent". mint. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.