SHUTTLERS CAN WIN GOLD IN TOKYO: GOPI

Mumbai: Saying that “every year has been better than the previous one”, chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand is hopeful India would clinch its first-ever gold medal in the discipline at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 45-year-old said the sport has undergone remarkable change in India in the last ten years. “Well, I think every year, in the last few years, has been better than the previous one. “In 2008 (Beijing Olympics) — the quarterfinal results was the biggest result, in 2012 (London Olympics) we had the first-ever bronze (Saina Nehwal), in 2016 (Rio Olympics) we had the firstever silver (P.V. Sindhu) and, hopefully, 2020 (Tokyo Olympics) we will have the first-ever gold,” Gopichand said here on Monday. The former All England champion was speaking after felicitating the seven winners of the IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence #Young Champ programme, who will undergo training at his academy in Hyderabad. Gopichand said earlier badminton was remembered for men’s singles players like Nandu Natekar, Suresh Goel and Prakash Padukone, among others, but Nehwal changed the perception. “Well, yes. For a long time before these girls (referring to Nehwal, Sindhu) came out, badminton was primarily remembered for men’s singles players, whether it is Natekar, Suresh Goel, Prakash (Padukone) Sir or Syed Modi. “It is how that whole thing was. The change to that (perception) happened (and for that) Saina (Nehwal) was important. “We needed somebody with that kind of push, hunger, will to win, because (being) the first person to come out and win is very difficult,” he said.