Pullela Gopichand: We haven't invested in badminton coaches

Pullela Gopichand at an event

India is on a high with PV Sindhu's win in the BWF World Championships but her coach Pullela Gopichand is worried about India's future in the sport and question if India has invested enough in badminton coaches.

PV Sindhu returned to India to a heroic welcome after becoming the first Indian woman to win the World Championship. She was also honoured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.

However, Gopichand feels the country needs to wake up to the fact that there aren't enough coaches to handle the talent that is rising.

"...we have not invested enough in coaches," he said here with Sindhu by his side at a press conference on Tuesday night.

Gopichand, a Dronacharya awardee, is credited with grooming not just Sindhu but also the trail-blazing Saina Nehwal and K Srikanth among others.

"We actually have a big vacuum in terms of producing coaches of quality and it's not a training program. It's an ecosystem issue. So, we need to work harder to bridge that gap," he said. Gopichand said although there are some foreign coaches like South Korean Kim Ji-Hyun on board, more are needed to deal with the talent that is coming up.

He said more coaches are required to strategise for matches against seasoned international players like Lin Dan.

"That we have not achieved. Hopefully, when this generation of people retire, we will actually get these people. If these people get back into coaching, then we'll actually get back numbers which are required," he said.

"It's a question without an easy answer and till that time, foreign coaches need to support," he said.
The former All England champion said the hectic calendar of the sport is also the reason why a larger pool of coaches and physiotherapists is required.

"It's also our own doing. Because, we have grown too fast and the infrastructure around us hasn't grown enough.

"That's a big problem we have and we need to sort it out. We need to talk about it and collectively find an answer," Gopichand said.

PV Sindhu will be looking to continue her winning momentum into next year's Tokyo 2020 Olympics and go one step further to win gold in the mega-event.

With inputs from PTI

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates