Gopi carries on as there’s no reserve

Mumbai, Nov. 13: Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Wednesday said the reason he continues to coach is that the players need him and there is still no succession plan in place.

“Well, to be honest, the reason why I continue to coach and I am obsessed about it is also because I haven’t had... I don’t see the succession plan come by so easily, it is been tough,” said Gopichand.

“I wish, now... to be honest, I feel it like a burden and a responsibility, I can’t let go the kind of (performance) we have achieved and the players need me and that becomes a burden internally,” he added.

He was addressing a seminar ‘EDGE 2019’ on the theme ‘The Power of One’ organised by EdelGive Foundation.

Gopichand has produced Olympic medallists including Saina Nehwal and P. V. Sindhu.

“So in the last few years, I was silently talking to people, in the last few months I have been talking to the press a little loudly about the need for coach education, need for coaches to be empowered and a system to be in place. It is my selfish desire to rest and relax,” he added.

The image of a “calm and composed” Gopichand sitting courtside during matches is quite familiar and he revealed that he never intends to put additional pressure on shuttlers when they are already under pressure.

“When I am sitting behind the player, I consciously think that my pressure should not add to him, he is already in a pressure cooker,” he said.

Saying that winning and losing was part of the game, Gopichand said it was important to maintain equilibrium when it comes to displaying emotions. “In a tournament, I have 10 kids playing and six of them have lost on Day One, three of them have lost on Day Two, so if I start feeling bad and miserable each time they lost or feel excited each time they win, then it is not very healthy for me. It is important for me over the years to realise that winning and losing are part of the game. If you get too elated when you win, you will very feel lousy when you lose, just to control it and keep that equilibrium, is important,” he stressed. —