Q+A: PULLELA GOPICHAND

Pullela Gopichand, national badminton coach, on systematic training, discipline and the making of world champions

Q. You’ve trained two world class badminton champions. What does that mean to you?

Beyond the medal hunt, it is about creating a process in the quest for excellence. I have enjoyed the success [of my students] even if it was only about becoming a state level champion. [My students] have strung together a success story that has no parallel in Indian sporting history.

Q. Is there any difference in the training or progress of your male and female students?

No such distinction has been drawn here because it is all about following a training regimen scrupulously. For example, for over a decade now, [P.V.] Sindhu has begun her daily training regimen before daybreak and gone through the mill rigorously.

Q. Does physiology play a role in the game? How do Asians fare when compared with Europeans?

It can be a factor, but what matters more than where you come from is your skills and stamina. There are several players who can outdo others to emerge the best on a particular day, given their individual acumen and how they capitalise on it to the detriment of their rivals.

Q. Did you pursue any other sport?

In the beginning, cricket did excite me, but considering that it involved admission for a coaching course, I gave up the idea. Football is a game that even now I and several of the players take to as part of the fitness regimen.