Money cannot fetch gold medal, efforts matter: Pullela Gopichand

“Money can’t buy gold medals,” was a quick reply by Indian Badminton Chief Coach Pullela Gopichand to a question on the perception of people who think spending money is enough to turn athletes into world-class performers.

He was in the city to attend the Yonex-Sunrise North Zone Inter-State Badminton Championships hosted by the Chandigarh Badminton Association (CBA) at the Sector 38 Sports Complex. The former Olympian and All-England Open Champion, Gopichand admitted that spending money on an athlete was just a normal aspect. “We blame either the system or the player for losing out in any competition. Our performance at the Paris Olympics was surely not up to the expectations, but the players played really well. We acknowledge the players who win medals but forget to appreciate those who missed winning laurels by a whisker,” he said.

“Blaming the government or players is not wise. We have to assess if the player was provided with a proper environment or proper conditions to perform. The government, associations and authorities are doing a fine job, but money can’t buy gold medals... It’s players’ efforts that win medals.”

Gopichand also talked about the pressure a player faces and the importance of maturity in his or her life. “We have a system. Announcing, for instance, Rs 10 crore for an Olympic winner sometimes puts pressure on a player or sometimes players aim for that only. A player has to be mature enough to understand the importance of playing well. Parents, coaches and others put a lot of effort in preparing a player,” he added.

The Chief National Coach also expressed his happiness over the changing aspect of Indian badminton. While interacting with the media, he explained how the bench strength of Indian badminton has grown to all-time high in recent years. “We are lucky to have a good base for a better future. I remember finding only two talented players (Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu) to represent India. Now, we have hundreds of players awaiting a chance to prove themselves at the world level. This is a good sign for our Indian team. The youngsters are really promising and well connected with the basics of the sport. I believe, over the years, the sport has gained a lot of popularity in India and we have a great bunch of players under consideration for making the nation proud in future,” said Gopichand.

Bond more important than infrastructure

While appreciating the growing popularity of badminton in the nation, Gopichand believes that building a good bond between coaches and players is more important than creating huge infrastructures. “See, infrastructure is important. We have so many huge stadiums across the nation, but it’s not that every player becomes great after playing there. I think the bond between players and coaches is the most important factor in building a player’s calibre. If a coach treats a player like his own son or daughter, the existing infrastructure can work in producing world-class shuttlers,” said Gopichand.

Revealing an interesting fact, he said, “I was offered a media job in Hong Kong, and TPS Puri (former chief coach) suggested I should accept some coaching offer. He plainly explained to me the challenges and said he would always be there to support me. The same is the bond with Surinder Mahajan (general secretary, Chandigarh Badminton Association). So, if it’s not for TPS Puri, I would have been anchoring programmes in Hong Kong with some channel,” said Gopi.

Badminton popularity has grown over years

The right age to start badminton is 7, but there’s no age bracket to stop learning the game. Badminton has grown over the years. There was a time when India didn’t qualify for the Commonwealth Games. Now, we are playing in almost all major tournaments. In the coming years, we can see some great performances. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are the best bets for future major events,” said Gopichand.