Pullela Gopichand

Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is a former Indian badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001,[3] becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone.[4][5] He runs the Gopichand Badminton Academy.[5] He received the Arjuna Award in 1999, the Dronacharya Award in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award – in 2014.[6][7]

In this Telugu name, the surname is Pullela.

Pullela Gopichand
Personal information
CountryIndia
Born (1973-11-16) 16 November 1973
Nagandla, Andhra Pradesh, India
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight68 kg (150 lb)
HandednessRight
Men's Singles
Highest ranking5[2] (15 March 2001)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  India
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 1998 Kuala Lumpur Men's team
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Kuala Lumpur Men's singles
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Jakarta Men's singles
BWF profile

Early life

Pullela Gopichand was born on 16 November 1973 near Chirala Town to Mr. Pullela Subash Chandra and Mrs. Pullela Subbaravamma, in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh.[8] Initially, he was interested in playing cricket, but his elder brother encouraged him to take up badminton instead.[8] His family settled in Nizamabad for a while. He did his schooling in St. Paul's High School, Hyderabad. He joined A. V. College, Hyderabad and graduated in public administration. He was the captain of the Indian combined universities badminton team in 1990 and 1991.

Playing career

Pullela was coached by S. M. Arif before Prakash Padukone accepted him at Prakash Padukone academy . He also trained under Ganguly Prasad at the SAI Bangalore.[9][10] Pullela won his first National Badminton Championship title in 1996, and went on to win the title five times in a row, until 2000. He won two gold medals and one silver medal at the Indian national games, 1998, held at Imphal. At the international level, he represented India in 3 Thomas Cup tournaments. In 1996, he won a gold in the SAARC badminton tournament at Vijayawada and defended his crown in the next games held at Colombo in 1997. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games, he won a silver in the team event and a bronze in men's singles.

In 1999, he won the Toulouse Open Championship in France and the Scottish Open Championship in Scotland. He also emerged as the winner at the Asian satellite tournament held at Hyderabad in the same year, and lost in the final match of the German Grand Prix Championship.

In 2001, he won the All England Open Badminton Championships at Birmingham. He defeated then world number one Peter Gade in the semi-finals before defeating Chen Hong of China to lift the trophy.[11] He became the second Indian to achieve the feat after Prakash Padukone, who won in 1980.[12]

Achievements

Asian Championships

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2000 Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Indonesia Taufik Hidayat 4–15, 12–15 Bronze Bronze

Commonwealth Games

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
1998 Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Malaysia Wong Choong Hann 1–15, 11–15 Bronze Bronze

IBF World Grand Prix

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
1997 India Open Indonesia Hariyanto Arbi 4–15, 7–15[13] 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
1999 French Open China Chen Gang 8–15, 15–10, 10–15[14] 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
1999 German Open China Xia Xuanze 3–15, 15–13, 4–15[15] 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2001 All England Open China Chen Hong 15–12, 15–6[16] 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner

IBF International

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
1999 Le Volant d'Or de Toulouse Wales Richard Vaughan 15–13, 14–15, 15–6[17] 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
1999 Scottish Open India Siddharth Jain 15–7, 15–10[18] 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
1999 India International India Ajit Wijetilek 15–6, 15–13[19] 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2004 India Asian Satellite India J. B. S. Vidyadhar 15–6, 15–1[20] 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner

Coaching career
Pullela (left) and Kidambi Srikanth (middle) with the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Vijay Goel, c. 2017.

After retiring from his playing career, Pullela founded the Gopichand Badminton Academy in 2008 after reportedly mortgaging his own house.[21] Nimmagadda Prasad, a renowned industrialist, donated ₹50 million (equivalent to ₹170 million or US$2.1 million in 2023) on a condition that his academy win a medal for India at the Olympics in badminton.[22] The academy produced several badminton players including Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu, Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap, Srikanth Kidambi, Arundhati Pantawane, Gurusai Datt, and Arun Vishnu.[23] Saina Nehwal went on to win the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, while P. V. Sindhu went on to win the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the bronze medal at the pandemic-hit 2020 Summer Olympics, and also became the first Indian to win the gold medal at the BWF World Championships. Pullela also served as the official Indian Olympic Badminton Team coach at the 2016 Rio Olympics held in Brazil.[21]

Awards and honours
Pullela (left) is awarded the Padma Shri by President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, c. 2005.

Rewards for Coaching the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics silver medallist P. V. Sindhu

Personal life

Pullela married fellow badminton player P. V. V. Lakshmi on 5 June 2002.[29] They have two children, a daughter named Gayathri and a son named Vishnu.

In Dec 2020, he launched guided meditation sessions for athletes named "Dhyana for Sports" in the App Dhyana. The sessions have been designed by him based on his experience training athletes. He is also the Director of Dhyana.[30] Dhyana, in collaboration with Heartfulness Institute, was the official meditation partner of the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) for Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. [31]

References
  1. "Pulella Gopichand". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  2. "Historical Ranking". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  3. "Pulella Gopichand". mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  4. "P Gopichand". The Times of India. 11 December 2002. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  5. "Pullela Gopichand – The Founder". Gopichand Badminton Academy. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  6. "LIST OF ARJUNA AWARD WINNERS". Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  7. "Pullela Gopichand thanks Badminton Fraternity for Padma Bhushan". IANS. Biharprabha News. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  8. "Pullela Gopichand – Badminton Player". webindia123.com. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  9. "His hard work and dedication has paid off". The Tribune. 11 March 2001. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  10. "Still a crusader". The Tribune. 15 April 2001. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  11. Our Correspondent in Birmingham (10 March 2001). "Gopichand enters All-England final". rediff.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  12. "Randhawa's wait for Padma Shri ends". The Tribune. 26 January 2005. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  13. "India Open 1997 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  14. "French Open 1999 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  15. "German Open 1999 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  16. "All England Open 2001 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  17. "Open de Toulouse Int 99 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  18. "Scottish Int 1999 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  19. "India International 99 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  20. "Indian Asian Satellite 2004: Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  21. "How Indian badminton rocketed on the Gopichand shuttle". The Hindu. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  22. "All that went into the making of Gopichand Academy". The Hindu. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  23. Dua, Aarti (1 August 2010). "Star maker". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  24. "Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards: Full list of winners".
  25. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  26. "Dronacharya award is a responsibility: Gopichand | Badminton News - Times of India". The Times of India. 21 July 2009.
  27. "National Sports Awards to be Presented on 31st August, 2013". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  28. IANS (19 August 2016). "Rio 2016: BAI announces cash awards for 'Silver' Sindhu, Coach Gopichand". mykhel.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  29. "Gopichand to wed Lakshmi".
  30. Arora, Devesh (10 December 2020). "Dhyana app brings Pullela Gopichand as mental fitness trainer: Here's what you need to know". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  31. Tewari, Saumya (21 July 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Dhyana partners Heartfulness Institute for Indian contingent". mint. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
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