Those of you following our mother site, Indic Civilizational Portal, would have seen our article on Kreeda, covering Indian Sports & Martial Arts. Part of culture is appreciating Fine & Performance Arts, Literature, and so on, and part of it is appreciating contributions to Physical & Athletic Culture.
A people should be neither barbaric nor overrefined. The former results in misbehaviour and crudity and the latter results in effete cowardice. A balance must be struck to ensure that cultured yet courageous men and women are created. That is why, following the example of our sister site, Tamizh Cultural Portal, we have begun articles recognising Andhra Sports Personalities as well. The first one may still be on the young side, but given his nationwide contributions, is undoubtedly deserving: Pullela Gopichand.
Background
Though he has now become an household name, Pullela Gopichand’s origins were one that every household would identify with. Born in 1973 to Pullela Subhash Chandra Bose and Subbaravamma, in Nagandla, Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, both his parents were interested in sports. While he earlier favoured cricket, his elder brother encouraged him to take up badminton.
He made a promising start in his amateur youth career; however, he suffered a critical multiple ligament injury in 1986 — making one wonder how much of an impact this might have had on his professional career. Nevertheless, he soon bounced back from this setback, and the following year placed second in the Andhra Pradesh State Championship— losing the title to his elder brother.
An interesting point of note is that by Gopichand’s own admission, he had not succeeded at engineering after trying his hand at a few courses. The lesson here for all students (and parents…) is that there is professional hope and life beyond science & engineering, and a student’s talent (along with backup plans) should be identified. In any event, after graduating from AV College, Hyderabad (with a degree in Economics), Pullela Gopichand soon became a professional sportsman.
“By 1999, Gopichand achieved a world ranking of 26 winning the Indian international, Scottish, Toulouse, French championships etc. He received the SAARC gold medal the same year. ” [4]
He gained a reputation as a fighter on the court, bouncing back from defeats to win against Olympic Champions and World Number 1’s. 2001 was a banner year for him, and he reached a career high ranking of World #5.
Pullela Gopichand has done what others would only dream of achieving. The true heir to the legacy of Prakash Padukone, Gopichand has won the coveted All England Badminton Championship in Birmingham.[1]
He has an interesting coaching lineage himself, beginning with S.M.Arif and then later Prakash Padukone and subsequently Ganguly Prasad (Sports Authority of India). A matter of note is that Pullela Gopichand is also a practicioner of yoga, and “He has tremendous respect for the rich Indian culture and tradition.” [4] Thus, sports success, professional success, and cultural cultivation can all go hand-in-hand and need not be mutually exclusive. We don’t need to forget who we are to achieve greatness on the national and international world stage. Though Gopichand’s own career formally ended in 2004 (hampered by injuries), his dedication to training ensured success on and off court.
“What goes into training champions? ‘It’s a lot of work — physical as well as mental — over a sustained period of time. It needs a thorough understanding of the sport, looking into various facets of world badminton, of gauging individual performances of the players and exploring the best ways to get the best out of them. There are various aspects involved in making successful players, whether it’s psychology, physiology, diet training. Then you keep trying different things, be constantly on the lookout for areas in which the players’ performances can be optimised'” [3]
He married in 2002 to P.V.V Lakshmi (also a former national badminton champion) and now has two young children, training to be future badminton stars.
Achievements
- All-England Badminton Open Champion
- Career high World Ranking of #5
- Multiple Badminton titles/medals, including a Commonwealth Games Bronze
- Arjuna Khel Ratna Award
- Padma Bhushan 2014
- Dronacharya Award, ESPN ‘Coach of the Year’ Award 2017
- Mortgaged own home to set up Professional Coaching Academy Facility
- Coached champion shuttlers Saina Nehwal, P.V.Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi, Parupalli Kashyap, H.S. Prannoy, Arun Vishnu, Arundhati Pantawane, & many others
- Dubbed ‘Supercoach’ for training 2 World #1’s
What is often forgotten about the Prakasam Puli is that he himself is a yesteryear badminton ace. The winner of a number of medals and titles, it was Pullela Gopichand who carried the banner of Indian badminton between Prakash Padukone and Saina Nehwal. It is often said that those who can, do, those who can’t, teach. Gopichand is the rare person who can do both, proving that the best teachers are those who actually can do, and once did. But rather than lavishing encomiums upon him, perhaps it is best to let this badminton star’s record speak for itself.
“Gopichand is indeed a story of sheer hard work, dedication and pure determination for the game of Badminton.” [4]
Legacy
From Saina Nehwal to P.V. Sindhu to Srikanth Kidambi, the man who has been the trainer of champions was once a champion himself. In our society which honours Acharyas, Gopichand Pullela has become the veritable kreedacharya of the current times. His example demonstrates, more than anything, that training and discipline are key to achievement.
Since the days of Vijay Amritraj, Indian Sports has, for far too long, coasted on individual talent, rather than training, discipline, and team effort. But championships are won through team performance. Even in a mostly individual sport like badminton, there is an entire support team that nurtures and buttresses an athlete. In a career that is marked in the beginning, middle, and end by injuries, it is interesting to ask what more Gopichand could have achieved as a professional, had this not been the case. But the more important question is what kept him going, despite all this adversity.
One of the drivers behind his success is his emphasis on fitness. Judging by your average chowkidaar, fitness had been the bane of well-to-do India until gym culture took off very recently. Even among sport stars, talent & skill were coasted upon rather than inclusion of conditioning. But Prakasam’s Pullela Gopichand put his money where his mouth is, and even as a young shuttler, was known for his fitness:
Gopichand fittest of all our baddy greats
Gopichand is better than all our previous badminton in one respect –his fitness. That was the unanimous verdict of most ex-players one spoke to. [1]
As a gauge of the impact he has had not only on the sport of badminton, but on the national consciousness, a movie is already in the works on his life. At press time, it has been confirmed that Fox Star Studios is planning a Telugu & Hindi Biopic on Pullela Gopichand. His success, sportsmanship, and fighting spirit has produced not only a championship career, but continues to inspire many young champions.
Above all is his own humble attitude as a coach that puts his players first is what describes this true sportsman of Andhra the best:
“It’s a great talent that we have… as far as Srikanth is concerned, the rise has been fantastic. Hopefully, he will continue to keep playing the way he is and will reach greater heights by winning many more tournaments. It is very satisfying to see players grow up the ranks and reach the top of the world. As somebody who has been associated with Indian badminton as a player and later coach I feel very proud of such players” [3]
It is this spirit of building each other up rather than tearing each other down that Andhra needs now more than ever. A state and nation producing sore losers needs to get their act together and learn from a sportsmanlike winner like Pullela Gopichand.
An avid reader of Sri Aurobindo and a yoga enthusiast, Mr. Gopichand asked sportspersons to remain c[al]m even when they face defeat. “It is all right to lose. I do not dissect a loss soon after any of my students fail to perform despite giving their best efforts,” he said to a round of applause. The sportsman, who barely missed an Olympic medal thanks to ill health, said he used to take criticism personally in the early stages of his career. “After I underwent three surgeries I stopped competing with others. I got best results when I competed with myself,” he observed.
References:
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/P-Gopichand/articleshow/30977688.cms
- http://www.rediff.com/sports/2001/mar/10gopi.htm
- https://www.deccanchronicle.com/sports/badminton/110418/pullela-gopichand-a-champion-mentor.html
- https://www.webindia123.com/personal/sports/gopi.htm
- http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/pullela-gopichand-takes-wcit-by-storm/article22810427.ece
- http://www.rediff.com/sports/2002/jun/05gopi.htm
- http://www.espn.in/badminton/story/_/id/22972473/guru-gopichand-gamechanger-indian-badminton
