Tokyo Olympics 2020: Pullela Gopichand says he'll devote time to mentoring coaches after Games

Hyderabad: Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand on Monday said he will spend more time mentoring coaches after the Tokyo Olympics to ensure that Indian badminton delivers its promise of becoming a super power in the sport. “Post Olympics, I will be spending more and more time on mentoring and ensuring that coach the coaches and Sports Science Research becomes a big part of my programmes for the next few years,” Gopichand said during an event where he announced his association with ‘The Sports School’. [caption id=“attachment_8081991” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Pullela Gopichand. Image credit: Artsmith PR[/caption] “Post 2020, would be to have our knowledge being shared and us working together and benefitting together, progressing toward so that the scale of Indian badminton which promises to grow, has to deliver on that hope. We could be a powerhouse and all of us working together can make it happen for our country.” Gopichand, who has been at the helm of Indian badminton for one and a half decades, will be mentoring the badminton programme in Anup Sridhar Badminton Academy, which has been brought on board by Bengaluru-based The Sports School. Gopichand, who has been instrumental in guiding Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu to Olympic medals, said he has been working with other coaches to create a team around each player. “We have coaches, for example, Saina has personal coach, physio, trainer and masseur and similar is the case with Sindhu and the doubles players. So now we have the luxury to say that they are individual players who have their team or groups working with them,” he said. “What I have done in the past, we cannot be getting the same results now as numbers have grown. As for me, my expertise need to be shared, I have to move into the coach the coaches program, move into sports science and research to ensure that more people can benefit from my experiences.” Before partnering with Anup Sridhar Badminton Academy, The Sports School had brought on board Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy for tennis, Bengaluru Football Club for football and Center for Cricketing Excellence for cricket with Robin Uthappa as advisor and Jain Group of Institutions for education. “I have been following the work of The Sports School quite closely. Their vision is very much aligned with mine. I have known Anup Sridhar for the last two decades, both as player and coach. I am delighted to work closely with Anup at The Sports School in our goal to making India a dominating force in world badminton,” said Gopichand.