Not dependent on one or two players now, says Gopichand
Team gold more special than individual medal: Saina
Chief national coach P Gopichand on Tuesday hailed the depth Indian badminton has achieved over the years, saying the team is no more dependent on one or two players.
The Indian team won a historic team gold at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games in Australia apart from winning five other medals.
“The team gold is something which was never dreamt of. We never imagined that we could win this medal. This was possible only because of the way the entire team played.
“I say this with a lot of pride because many a times it was one or two players who would be big ups in the team, from years, may be thirty, forty years, look at the history of Indian badminton. But,today is different. Today we have each member of the team contributing,” Gopichand said at a felicitation function.
It is a matter of pride that the final of a major event like the CWG took place between two Indians, the 44-year-old said referring to the women’s singles final between Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu.
“To be in a position where two of our players play against each other in the final of a big event like Commonwealth Games is something which we feel proud about,” he said.
Saina Nehwal, who bagged a gold medal in the women’s singles event of the recentlyconcluded on Tuesday rated the gold medal in mixed-team event of the prestigious quadrennial games as much more special than the individual.
On the last day of the Games, Nehwal defeated her compatriot PV Sindhu by straight games 21-18, 23-21 in a high-octane clash to grab gold medal in the all-Indian finals to clinch gold in the badminton competition.
However, Nehwal had earlier also guided India to their maiden gold in the mixedteam event of the prestigious multi-sport Games.
With a 2-1 lead against Malaysia in the finals of the mixed team event, all eyes were on Nehwal and the experienced shuttler did not disappoint her fans as she bounced back from a game down to clinch a 21-11, 19-21, 21-9 win over Soniia Cheah to seal the deal for India.
Talking to ANI, Nehwal said, “More than the individual medal, I would rate the team championship gold medal more special as that is something we never dreamt of. It was very challenging to win against Singapore and Malaysia.” Reflecting on her individual performance, Nehwal admitted that beating Sindhu in the summit showdown of the women’s singles event was not at all an easy task, but she held her nerves to eventually come out victorious.
“Beating PV Sindhu in the final was not easy but I kept my nerves and did well,” Nehwal said.
On a related note, the 2018 Commonwealth Games have been India’s third most successful CWG of all time.
India won a total of 66 medals, which included 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze.
Earlier, India won 101 medals in the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 and 69 medals in the 2002 Melbourne Games.
Meanwhile, hosts Australia, and England occupied the top two spots in the medal tally this year with 198 and 136 medals respectively.