• About us
  • Careers
  • Brand Partnerships
TFI Official Merchandise
TFI हिन्दी
TFI Global
Friday, February 3, 2023
Tfipost.com
  • Premium
  • Politics
    • All
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
    Tom-Foolery Exposed: The Savage Science of Victimology

    Tom-Foolery Exposed: The Savage Science of Victimology

    Hydrogen trains

    Budget lights the fire for Indian Railways’ Hydrogen transformation

    From a rickshawala to billionaire godman: An unexplored tale

    From a rickshawala to billionaire godman: An unexplored tale

    Dr Jaishankar

    Left’s lobby’s plot to tarnish Jaishankar’s reputation

    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • All
    • Business
    • Economy1
    • Finance
    Budget 2023’s Delicate Dance: Balancing Fiscal, Populism and the Public Interest

    Budget 2023’s Delicate Dance: Balancing Fiscal, Populism and the Public Interest

    Artificial Intelligence India

    Unlocking Artificial Intelligence Potential: India’s 2023 Budget and the Future

    new tax regime

    Budget 2023: Income Tax breakthrough for India’s middle class

    Union Budget 2023 live updates

    Union Budget 2023 live updates: Modi Govt announces New Tax slab

    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • All
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
    Defence budget India

    Modernization of Indian defence: Right trajectory but low velocity

    AK-203 rifles

    Amethi has started producing the dreaded AK 203 for India and the world

    HELINA and VSHROD

    Amidst build up on China and Pakistan border India gets HELINA and VSHROD

    K9-Vajra

    K9 VAJRA: The Made in India weapon that China fears

    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • All
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
    In the Presidential year of G20, they have waged an info war against India

    In the Presidential year of G20, they have waged an info war against India

    Macron-Modi-Biden: France gives India an edge in dealing with the USA

    Macron-Modi-Biden: France gives India an edge in dealing with the USA

    Ajit Doval Jake Sullivan

    The Quiet Revolution: India’s Diplomatic Success in Bringing Tech Transfer

    India UNSC

    UNSC Row: Time for China to choose between Competition and Cooperation with India

    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • All
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
    Ram V. Sutar

    The legacy of Ram V. Sutar: A gift from Bhagwan Vishwakarma

    Dilip Kumar Indira Gandhi

    When Dilip Kumar silenced Indira Gandhi

    Bhagwan Vishnu Bhavishya Badri

    Is Bhagwan Vishnu leaving Badrinath and shifting to Bhavishya Badri?

    Banjara community

    Banjaras are Sanatani and everything else about them is cropped up

    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Law
  • Lounge
    • All
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    Sharad Kelkar: An underrated gem of Indian Cinema

    Sharad Kelkar: An underrated gem of Indian Cinema

    Sayaji Shinde

    Unrecognized in Bollywood, but Celebrated Everywhere Else: The Tale of Sayaji Shinde

    Anurag Kashyap

    Anurag Kashyap’s new facade: Bollywood’s left intelligentsia plans to befool the nationalist audience

    Govinda congress

    When Govinda started literally pleading in front of Sonia Gandhi

    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
No Result
View All Result
Tfipost.com
  • Premium
  • Politics
    • All
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
    Tom-Foolery Exposed: The Savage Science of Victimology

    Tom-Foolery Exposed: The Savage Science of Victimology

    Hydrogen trains

    Budget lights the fire for Indian Railways’ Hydrogen transformation

    From a rickshawala to billionaire godman: An unexplored tale

    From a rickshawala to billionaire godman: An unexplored tale

    Dr Jaishankar

    Left’s lobby’s plot to tarnish Jaishankar’s reputation

    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • All
    • Business
    • Economy1
    • Finance
    Budget 2023’s Delicate Dance: Balancing Fiscal, Populism and the Public Interest

    Budget 2023’s Delicate Dance: Balancing Fiscal, Populism and the Public Interest

    Artificial Intelligence India

    Unlocking Artificial Intelligence Potential: India’s 2023 Budget and the Future

    new tax regime

    Budget 2023: Income Tax breakthrough for India’s middle class

    Union Budget 2023 live updates

    Union Budget 2023 live updates: Modi Govt announces New Tax slab

    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • All
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
    Defence budget India

    Modernization of Indian defence: Right trajectory but low velocity

    AK-203 rifles

    Amethi has started producing the dreaded AK 203 for India and the world

    HELINA and VSHROD

    Amidst build up on China and Pakistan border India gets HELINA and VSHROD

    K9-Vajra

    K9 VAJRA: The Made in India weapon that China fears

    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • All
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
    In the Presidential year of G20, they have waged an info war against India

    In the Presidential year of G20, they have waged an info war against India

    Macron-Modi-Biden: France gives India an edge in dealing with the USA

    Macron-Modi-Biden: France gives India an edge in dealing with the USA

    Ajit Doval Jake Sullivan

    The Quiet Revolution: India’s Diplomatic Success in Bringing Tech Transfer

    India UNSC

    UNSC Row: Time for China to choose between Competition and Cooperation with India

    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • All
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
    Ram V. Sutar

    The legacy of Ram V. Sutar: A gift from Bhagwan Vishwakarma

    Dilip Kumar Indira Gandhi

    When Dilip Kumar silenced Indira Gandhi

    Bhagwan Vishnu Bhavishya Badri

    Is Bhagwan Vishnu leaving Badrinath and shifting to Bhavishya Badri?

    Banjara community

    Banjaras are Sanatani and everything else about them is cropped up

    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Law
  • Lounge
    • All
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    Sharad Kelkar: An underrated gem of Indian Cinema

    Sharad Kelkar: An underrated gem of Indian Cinema

    Sayaji Shinde

    Unrecognized in Bollywood, but Celebrated Everywhere Else: The Tale of Sayaji Shinde

    Anurag Kashyap

    Anurag Kashyap’s new facade: Bollywood’s left intelligentsia plans to befool the nationalist audience

    Govinda congress

    When Govinda started literally pleading in front of Sonia Gandhi

    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
No Result
View All Result
Tfipost.com
No Result
View All Result

HOME » Politics » Opinions » 2 Champions, 1 Coach and a thousand emotions – The untold story of Saina, Gopichand and Sindhu

2 Champions, 1 Coach and a thousand emotions – The untold story of Saina, Gopichand and Sindhu

A fascinating story

Animesh Pandey
by Animesh Pandey
26 September 2019
in Opinions
0
Saina Nehwal, Pullela Gopichand, PV Sindhu

PC : IndiaTimes

1.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

There was a guru whose skill was unmatched by any, and none knew this better than two of his most famous disciples. Both the disciples were brilliant in their own right. However, fate took a turn and one thought it appropriate to leave her guru. She thought that the Guru’s approach was anachronistic, and it was time for her to make a mark. But the reverse happened. The pupil remained where she was, and under the supervision of the Guru became the second disciple sugar.

This is no figment of imagination, but the reality, and it is an interesting story about badminton star turned coach Pullela Gopichand, two of his famous disciples, Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu.

 

Once the winner of the All England Championship in 2001, Pullela Gopichand decided to take the task of rejuvenating badminton in India into his own hands, and with everything put at stake, he decided to open the Gopichand Badminton Academy.

Initially, he faced a lot of hardships, but things would soon change for the better by 2008 when one of his disciples Saina Nehwal emerged on the horizon of world badminton.

The venue was Beijing and the occasion was the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Like many sports, in badminton, India used to send its players for mere formality. But Saina was not among them. Saina Nehwal became the first Indian player to reach the pre-quarterfinals of Olympic badminton after Dipankar Bhattacharya as she surprised everyone by defeating Wang Chen of Hong Kong, the silver medalist of the 2007 World Badminton Championships, thus ensuring her place in the quarter-finals. Even though she lost to Maria Christiana Yulianti of Indonesia, Saina had laid the foundation for the revival of Indian badminton. Since then, she never looked back.

Under the tutelage of Pullela Gopichand, Saina scripted new heights for Indian badminton. Whether it was winning a gold medal at the Junior World Badminton Championships in 2008, or a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, or winning India’s first individual silver medal in the 2011 World Super Series, Saina was slowly turning to India’s new sports icon.

However, her biggest achievement came in the London Olympics 2012, when she won a bronze medal, a first for India. It was from this very Pullela Gopichand Academy that players like Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap, RMV Gurusai Dutt and Arun Vishnu also emerged on the horizon of the world badminton.

At the same time, PV Sindhu also made her presence felt on the international stage when she defeated London Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui in the quarterfinals of Li Ning China Masters tournament by 21-19, 9-21, 21-16 to enter the semi-finals. Even though she had lost the semi-finals, she had proved that there are many hidden tigers in India waiting to be discovered.

In 2013, PV Sindhu won the bronze medal in the women’s singles category, ending India’s medal drought after 26 years. It was India’s first individual medal since Prakash Padukone’s bronze medal in the 1987 edition. Shortly thereafter, in 2014, Sindhu again won a bronze medal while retaining her place at the podium, while Saina Nehwal was eliminated in the quarter-finals. From here, cracks began to be visible in the trio of Gopichand-Saina-Sindhu.

Many people have differences on the reason why Saina left the Gopichand Academy. But according to Scroll.in, Saina was unhappy that she did not get special attention in the academy as compared to other disciples, whereas Pullela Gopichand, like an ideal teacher, gave equal training to all the disciples.

For this reason, soon after the completion of the World Championships, Saina left the training imparted by Gopichand Academy and started training with her personal trainer, U Vimal Kumar.

Initially, Saina had an advantage when she entered the finals at the 2015 World Championships, being the first Indian to do so. But this joy did not last long, and she made a first-round exit at the 2016 Rio Olympics. On the other hand, PV Sindhu focused solely on her goal and went one step ahead of Saina to enter the finals in the women’s singles event at the Rio Olympics. Although she suffered defeat at the hands of Spain’s Carolina Marin, PV Sindhu’s silver medal was also the first silver medal won by India in Olympic badminton.

After this, PV Sindhu slowly, but steadily went ahead of Saina Nehwal. Internationally, even though Saina Nehwal is ahead in the head to head encounter, PV Sindhu is considered a notch above Saina Nehwal on an overall basis. Irrespective of the tournament, PV Sindhu would return mostly with a minimum of a podium finish.

PV Sindhu also made history in the Asian Games when she defeated Akane Yamaguchi to reach the final of the Asian Games women’s singles badminton event. She became the first Indian to do so, the best performance previously being an individual bronze by Syed Modi in Asian Games 1982 edition.

The very same year, PV Sindhu also won a gold medal in the WWF World Tour Finals, overcoming her strange final phobia, and became the first Indian to do so. As if that was enough, she overcame her World Championship phobia by defeating Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in straight sets to win the World Badminton Championship in 2019, becoming the first Indian to attain this title, irrespective of category.

Today, PV Sindhu is considered amongst the top players of the world, while Saina Nehwal is far from being her best. As such, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that had Saina not kept her personal interests above that of her sport and her nation, and continued to be a pupil of Pullela Gopichand, she would’ve been alongside PV Sindhu and adding more laurels for the nation.

Tags: Pullela GopichandPV SindhuSaina Nehwalsports
Share61TweetSend
Previous Post

Erdogan toes Pakistan line on Kashmir, dreams of a neo-Ottoman Caliphate with himself as the Khalifa

Next Post

Left leaning French Govt goes full right, decides to shut doors for refugees, plans to deport the existing ones

Animesh Pandey

Animesh Pandey

Lead Editor, TFI Media Vidyarthi of History, Cinema Buff, Akhand Bharat Parmo Dharma

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

  • Most Read
  • Comments
  • Latest
Xi Jinping, coronavirus, Shinzo Abe, china, Japan, coornavirus, COVID-19, Wuhan Virus

‘Pack up and get out of there,’ Japan to spend $2.2 billion to get Japanese companies to exit China

9 April 2020
ajay devgn karan johar

The man who bullied the Bully – How Ajay Devgn made Karan Johar’s monopoly a joke and forced him to apologize

22 June 2020
Huawei, China, Trump, USA, Xi Jinping

‘Our survival is at stake now,’ Chinese Telecom giant Huawei crumbles after US ban on Semiconductor exports

19 May 2020
T-Series Sonu Nigam Divya Khosla Kumar Bhushan Kumar

T-Series forced to take down Atif Aslam’s video, Divya Khosla trolled. T-Series has a bad day in office

25 June 2020
Meat Ban

A Jain responds to Meat Ban in Mumbai

Public Sector Bank, Government, Bill

Dear bank employees, continue your stride but PSBs will be privatized

anti-Hindi

Anti-Hindi Forever?- In search of a National Language!

Dear Liberals – your Beef Parties are not protests, they just intend to displease the Majority

Dear Liberals – your Beef Parties are not protests, they just intend to displease the Majority

Protecting the Accused: The Concept of Double Jeopardy in India

Protecting the Accused: The Concept of Double Jeopardy in India

3 February 2023
Tom-Foolery Exposed: The Savage Science of Victimology

Tom-Foolery Exposed: The Savage Science of Victimology

3 February 2023
Hydrogen trains

Budget lights the fire for Indian Railways’ Hydrogen transformation

3 February 2023
From a rickshawala to billionaire godman: An unexplored tale

From a rickshawala to billionaire godman: An unexplored tale

3 February 2023

Popular This Week

Preity Zinta
Cinema

Preity Zinta – The woman who stood up to the underworld, but paid a heavy price for it

by Paurush Gupta
30 January 2023
Adani-Hindenburg row: Decoding the hidden agendas
Premium

Adani-Hindenburg row: Decoding the hidden agendas

by Abhishek Kumar Singh
29 January 2023
Govinda congress
Cinema

When Govinda started literally pleading in front of Sonia Gandhi

by TFIPOST News Desk
31 January 2023
The untold story of Swami Pranavananda
History

The untold story of Swami Pranavananda

by Abhishek Kumar Singh
29 January 2023
Reality of Bageshwar Dham
Analysis

The Bageshwar Dham: The Reality of Dhirendra Krishna Shastri

by Tejasvi Malhotra
31 October 2022

©2023 TFI Media Private Limited

  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
No Result
View All Result
  • Premium
  • Politics
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Law
  • Lounge
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
TFI Official Merchandise
TFI हिन्दी
TFI Global
  • About us
  • Careers
  • Brand Partnerships

©2023 TFI Media Private Limited

Follow us on Twitter

and never miss an insightful take by the TFIPOST team

Follow @tfipost