P V Sindhu– Silver Medal in Women’s Single Badminton at Rio Olympics, 2016

Saina Nehal– Bronze Medal in Women’s Single Badminton at London Olympics,2012

Kidambi Shrikanth– Reached quarters in Men’s Singles Badminton at Rio Olympics 2016

Parupalli Kashyap– Reached quarters in Men’s Singles Badminton at London Olympics, 2012

 The one common thing about all the above four players is that all of them are trained at Gopichand Badminton Academy,Hyderabad under the able mentor ship of Pullela Gopichand,a former All England Champion and Padma Bhushan Awardee.

I always believed that this world is built by heroes.Without books or Story tellers there would be no stories, and without any story there would be no heroes.So literary or oral representation of worth telling tales is always essential. Through Surya Speaks I always tried to tell the stories which are close to my heart.The life of Gopichand is no short of an Inspiration and he is one of those heroes, who personifies sheer grit and determination. So I would like to share his speech which he delivered when invited to speak at “Convergence -2015” held at Infosys Mysore.I am sure that your respect for him manifolds after reading this.

Happy Reading.!

In his own words…(All that is written below is based on my memory and grammatical or representational errors, if any are only due to my inefficiency)

On training at Mornings, and Road to Nationals

After joining coaching in 1985 along with my brother, On any day the coaching session used to start at 6 am in the morning. As I was younger than many of the other student athletes, I realized its not easy to compete and win against them, So I decided to work harder than any other player, unless which I wouldn’t stand a chance. That is when I used to come to the coaching arena by 5.30 am and started practicing for half an hour before any other player reaches and by the time the clock strikes 6 and first person comes in I would immediately change my soiled t-shirt and appear in such a way that I have not practiced at all. That is how I entered into district levels. Then at district levels I followed the same formula.If 4 persons reached districts then these 4 might also have started practicing at 5.30 like me, so I should start my practice at 5 am to beat the other three,and started practicing  from 5. After that I represented my state Andhra Pradesh in Nationals. The Plight of Andhra Pradesh back then was pretty much “First Round Pack up”. By the time I played my first International match, which is in 1991, I was a 4am starter following the same strategy. If you want to beat your competitors, then work  harder and practice more than any was my motto always.

1991 Malaysian Tournament and my take on Chinese:

We Indians were given rooms in a hotel in Kaulalampur. I was the youngest of the Indian Badminton contingent. I was lost in my first round and almost everyone of the lot ended their run on the first day itself. So at the end of the day we all sat together and were chatting, then I stood up and said “Is Chinese ko mai haraaonga” (I will beat this chinese one day). I was 17 or 18 then, with young blood. So every one around ridiculed me saying “Baito..ham idhar chaal paanch saal se hai and tumse bhinahi ho payega..” (Calm down, we can never beat Chinese). On that day I have decided that I will beat Chinese one day. At least I was determined to do so. Then I won my first Nationals in 96. and In 1998 or so,we were representing India on yet another world Tournament. India did not make into the podium and after returning to room again I repeated “I will surely beat the Chinese one day”. This time I was the eldest of the Contigent and was looked down by my younger team mates as they said “Bhaiya..you say these things but you will never do”. I walked off and then I decided to find a new coach and decided to stay away from them because of their negative energy.Always Staying positive was the most important thing for me.

Then training and winning at different levels.

Then I moved to Bangalore and started coaching under Prakash Padukone. I won medals at Common wealth Games, SAARC games in that period. Although  I have Badminton Nationals from 96 to 2000 5 times in a row. I suffered many Injuries during that stage. My left knee got injured 3 times during those 5 years. I was bed ridden for 6 to 8 months each time.When  I was Injured for the first time, people said I would not be able to play again because of 2 reasons 1. They are serious Injuries and 2. No one managed to come back in badminton after suffering those Injuries. But I came back every time an Injury slapped me down and kept on winning titles.

Loss at 2000 Sydney Olympics:

My aim was to win a medal at Olympics. I was in top form and was ranked world no.5 then. So I went to Sydney 6 months ahead of Olympics and started my preparations. My typical day would start at 4 am  with Yoga and Visualization for 2 hours. I always believed in Visualization and it did wonders for me.Then I used to practice for hours together. I was in very good shape physically and mentally. My fitness was topnotch. Then the Olympics has started and I smashed my opponent in my first game of the season. I went back to hotel that day and suddenly my body started to ache. I was in full pain and irrespective of taking 4 massage sessions, my body grew weaker and weaker and by midnight I was caught with very high fever. I lost in pre quarters due to that. My dreams were all collapsed. I slowly started realizing what had actually happened. The 6 months which I  practiced was on wooden floor but the Olympics matches were held on concrete floor. So each time I jumped and my feet hit the concrete floor, severe shocks emerged from my feet passed into my body upwards hurting my joints and that is the reason for developing those sudden and severe aches.

Came back to India and then:

After London 2000’s Loss, I came back to India . Literally for 2 months I lead a life of a zombie.Then I questioned myself what I was doing and so I made my mind to come back.I have also decided that I would no longer go to any tournament with any Expectations. Then I happened to win some major titles in this period. I have beaten world class players like Lin Dan. Then I won the prestigious All England Open in 2001.

How destiny played its part. How I happened to choose badminton.

As a child I was playing cricket every day and night and was breaking window panes of my house and that of my neighbors. That became a big problem to my parents.So they decided me to join coaching somewhere.They took me to cricket but there were already hundreds of boys playing and was no place to enroll. Then they took me near Tennis. As there were many number of cars parked outside the academy, my parents were hesitant to join me into coaching as they realized tennis is a game which they cannot afford. Then they took me into Badminton and the coaching center. was deserted with no students. So they joined me there. So now when I see some newspaper articles mentioning that “Gopichand knew that he would win All England on the day he picked up his rqcquet” its all rubbish. I didn’t even know that there is a thing called All England by then. It all happened by chance.

How I narrowly escaped from being an Engineer:

My Elder brother was also in the same coaching academy. By the time I was playing under 13, he was under 15 State Champion. He then skipped Coaching to take his +11 and +12 classes seriously. He gave his JEE and scored AIR 103 and entered into IIT. I was nowhere when coming to studies. I hardly got 60  percent marks. When I entered into my +11 obviously I had to take maths and science as Doctor and Engineer were considered dream professions right from those days. I did not take JEE, for the fear of flunking, but I appeared for AP state level Engineering Exam . The qualification marks were 40, and luckily I got only 38 marks. Then I told myself “Thank God” If I had got any mark more than 40, I would have easily landed into some xyz engineering college and end up becoming a terrible Engineer. So I was left to myself to pursue my career in badminton, subjected to condition by parents that I play well making my mark. When your brother is studying in IIT, you are still considered useless by your family. But that is the second time when destiny played its role and brought me into badminton.

Why Coaching and why a Badminton Academy

Then in 2003,after 4 injuries to my left leg over past 10 years, my right leg had collapsed due to extra burden that it was taking all through the years. So that is when I decided to retire and  pursue coaching. My decision is not devoid of any reasons. When we use to participate in International Leagues, commentators would praise Indian Badminton players saying that our style has finesse, and that Indians swirl the racquets in air much smoothly like the feathers. The actual reason is that we Indians cannot afford many racquets and if any racquet is broken it takes so much for us to buy a new one. So that is the reason behind our finesse style. When I joined coaching, I would reach the arena at very early hours. But sometimes the Court used to be closed due to various reasons like “Watchman would not be there, or due to Power Cut, or No proper Nets or No Racquets available, sometimes coaches would not have come, sometimes players would not have come, sometimes the court would be dug out due to a political gathering held the day before, so many reasons. These all are distractions which we all used to bear building our career.and the other reason was Experience is the Best Teacher and by the time I became a matured player I was in my late 20s, so you cant do much at that stage. So if we train kids right from very young age, they can do wonders by the time they turn 20. All these experiences motivated me to become a coach, build my academy and nurture young talent of the country.

Building ‘Gopichand Badminton Acadamy’

The then AP Governement recognizing my All England Championship win awarded me 5 acres of land at Gachibowli on lease in 2003. But I was short of funds, so I was looking for Investors. When you represented your nation at various levels people come to you asking for autographs and readily recognizes you wherever you go. But when I was looking for investors many looked down on me and simply said sorry as Badminton is not a popular sport to be invested upon. I went to many corporate giants asking for sponsorship and fund grants.I took appointments and waited at their offices for hours. I want to share a particular incident when I was asked to wait outside the office room of a big corporate giant. I went there at 9 in the morning and kept on waiting till 7 pm. I felt disgusted and started thinking about the way I was treated. But I kept my cool and gave no rise to my Ego as I know the Academy which I was going to build need some sacrifices and sacrificing my ego was the foremost in some cases. Then I was called in at nearly 8 pm and was simply told “Look Gopi, I tried my best to convince our sponsorship Team,and Badminton is not as popular as cricket and it goes nowhere in our country. So they are not willing to put forth the amount that you are asking for. But as a personal favour am willing to contribute some x rupees” which was a ridiculous amount. So I returned home empty handed. I cannot control my tears. Then I called in my family and said “See we have come from a double bed room flat and now by god’s grace we are living in this huge one. So if conditions force us,Will you be ready to go back to the same double bed roomed house? As I am getting no financial aid from anyone  I am thinking to sell this house” for which my family readily agreed. Luckily I didn’t sell my house but rather mortgaged it for 3 crores rupees and that is how the construction of Gopichand Academy was eventually completed after 5 years in 2008.

Breaching the Chinese wall

Now the Academy has been producing many quality players who are bringing many laurels to the Nation.To name a few, Last year in 2014 China Open Saina Nehwal emerged winner in women’s singles and Kidambi Srikanth won in Men’s singles. Beating Chinese in China is a rare feat achieved by the Academy students, and our Indian Anthem being played twice on Chinese soil is a proud moment to me and moments like those get keeps me going. Thank you.!