The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Gopi Chand gets down to business

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Saturday, Jun 03, 2006

Sport

Sport - Badminton

Gopi Chand gets down to business

V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD: Former All-England champion Pullela Gopi Chand strongly believes that his new role as the chief National coach is a huge responsibility and an honour bestowed on him with great expectations. He has already got down to business by calling for a National camp to be held in July.

It will be a 210-day affair for seniors and 140-day affair for juniors with the players going abroad for competitions in between. The focus on one group will be on the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the other on the 2012 Olympics.

But, how exactly is he going to change the state of Indian badminton? "Apparently, I don't have any magic potion. It is too early to discuss about specifics. But, there will be definite planning and we intend to go step-by-step over the next few months in the run-up to the Doha Asian Games," said Gopi, who will be the coach till the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.

The Rajiv Khel Ratna awardee insists that there is no dearth of talent across the country. "All the young talent need is foreign exposure. It is not just intensive coaching. A platform to enable the young players to make an honest assessment is equally important," he said.

Not surprisingly, he refers to the success story of his trainee Saina Nehwal as one of the examples of how focus on this aspect could change a player's attitude and confidence level.

Important backing

Gopi is pleased that BAI president V.K. Verma and former National coach T.P.S. Puri are backing him to the hilt in his endeavour. "It will be too much to expect from the players if every new coach insists on a change in their style. The essential job is to fine-tune some rough edges, play the role of a psychologist, enhance the confidence level and help them improve," he said.

No hindrance

Gopi doesn't feel that his new assignment is a hindrance to his plans of setting up an academy. "In fact, this will only help my cause. For, I have a greater say now and since there will be no compromise on talent at any cost, the players too should be more comfortable," he added.

What is obvious now is that given the infrastructure available and the ever-sporting State Government on hand, most of the camps will be held in Hyderabad and this should only encourage the young talent to have a closer look at the top players and learn a few skills.

One of his first decisions will be to send 12 seniors and two coaches for a training-cum-exposure trip to Malaysia in July and another set for December.

For the time being, he is keen to get on with the job in a business-like approach. He believes in winning the race slowly and steadily rather than harping on much and doing little.

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