‘There is some apprehension about how things will open up’
OPTIMISTIC Players eager to start practice and play; two or three good performances can help Saina and Srikanth qualify for Olympics
nNEW DELHI: Performing several duties almost every day of the year, Pullela Gopichand is one of the busiest coach-cum-administrators in Indian sport. The lockdown to combat Covid-19 allowed him some ‘me time’ which he utilised to work on his mind and body.
But that doesn’t mean the former All England champion was disconnected from badminton. Gopichand regularly spoke to the players scheduling their fitness and training and allaying their fears of a world unlocked.
In this interview, the chief national coach discusses a number of issues including the new calendar introduced by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), resuming training, the new Olympic qualifying period and more.
At the moment the talk is about practice. And although BWF has mentioned the tournaments, it also depends how the travel restrictions in various countries are, how the quarantine rules are before we can actually think about free movement and access to countries for back-to-back tournaments. We will have to look at visa regulations before we plan our schedule. Having said that, although this is a packed schedule, players have a choice. These are not the most important tournaments as they are not part of the Olympic qualification. So the players can decide to skip and play only as many as they can.
Well the whole world is training (to qualify for the Olympics). We will have to see how the players’ fitness and form is, going into next year. So that’s when it really counts—those six or seven tournaments. So two or three good performances and they could be in. They have a possibility and a chance to qualify and, hopefully, both Saina and Srikanth will qualify. whether it is (regarding) practice, tournaments or travel. But, by and large, they all want to come back and start practice and play tournaments.
Fortunately, Olympic players have been training well and increasing their levels of fitness. Although their actual playing has suffered, many of them are fit and motivated enough to work on their fitness. Some have started playing---those who are outside Hyderabad---and some are managing to do a lot of fitness sessions to keep themselves ready for practice. We will have to see how things go. They all understand the scenario with the government. So, in a way, they are relaxed about it, nobody is pushing on that front.
This is a once-in-a-century kind of a scenario. It is almost unprecedented that the Olympics got postponed. One of the fundamentals of a top player is adaptability and flexibility to the kind of scenarios that emerge.
As top players, especially in badminton, there’s a lot to look forward to. Of course, the Olympics is super important which drives a lot of them but the World Championships, All England, Superseries tournaments are also motivating. And long before 2021 finishes, people would start looking at the Asian and Commonwealth Games in 2022. Then the Olympic qualification for 2024 starts in 2023. So people will move on very quickly.
For the longest period I haven’t had a break this big. I have actually benefitted in some ways.
I got time to read; introspect; do my walks and meditation; work on my fitness and connect with a lot of players; do other work around physical literacy and sport. I got time to work on myself, on my body and mind.