Pullela Gopichand
Pullela Gopichand | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | India | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Nagandla, Prakasam, Andhra Pradesh, India | 16 November 1973||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 68 kg (150 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Handedness | Right | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Men's Singles | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest ranking | 5[2] (15 March 2001) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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BWF profile |
Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is a former Indian badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001[3] becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone.[4][5] He runs the Gopichand Badminton Academy.[5] He received the Arjuna Award in 1999, the Dronacharya Award in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award – in 2014.[6][7]
Early life[]
Pullela Gopichand was born on 16 November 1973 near Chirala Town to Mr. Pullela Subash Chandra and Mrs. Pullela Subbaravamma, in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh.[8] Initially, he was interested in playing cricket, but his elder brother encouraged him to take up badminton instead.[8] His family settled in Nizamabad for a while. He did his schooling from St. Paul's High School, Hyderabad. He joined A. V. College, Hyderabad and graduated in public administration. He was the captain of the Indian combined universities badminton team in 1990 and 1991.
Playing career[]
Pullela was coached by S. M. Arif before Prakash Padukone accepted him at Prakash Padukone academy [3]. He also trained under Ganguly Prasad at the SAI Bangalore.[9][10] Pullela won his first National Badminton Championship title in 1996, and went on to win the title five times in a row, until 2000. He won two gold and one silver at the Indian national games, 1998 held at Imphal. At the international level, he represented India in 3 Thomas Cup tournaments. In 1996 he won a gold in the SAARC badminton tournament at Vijayawada and defended the crown in the next games held at Colombo in 1997. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games, he won a silver in the team event and a bronze in men's singles.
In 1999, he won the Toulouse open championship in France and the Scottish open championship in Scotland. He also emerged winner at the Asian satellite tournament held at Hyderabad in the same year, and lost in the final match of the German grand prix championship.
In 2001, he won the All England Open Badminton Championships at Birmingham. He defeated then world number one Peter Gade in the semi-finals before defeating Chen Hong of China to lift the trophy.[11] He became the second Indian to achieve the feat after Prakash Padukone, who won in 1980.[12]
Achievements[]
Asian Championships[]
Men's singles
Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia | Taufik Hidayat | 4–15, 12–15 | Bronze |
Commonwealth Games[]
Men's singles
Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Wong Choong Hann | 1–15, 11–15 | Bronze |
IBF World Grand Prix[]
The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.
Men's singles
Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | India Open | Hariyanto Arbi | 4–15, 7–15[13] | Runner-up |
1999 | French Open | Chen Gang | 8–15, 15–10, 10–15[14] | Runner-up |
1999 | German Open | Xia Xuanze | 3–15, 15–13, 4–15[15] | Runner-up |
2001 | All England Open | Chen Hong | 15–12, 15–6[16] | Winner |
IBF International[]
Men's singles
Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Le Volant d'Or de Toulouse | Richard Vaughan | 15–13, 14–15, 15–6[17] | Winner |
1999 | Scottish Open | 15–7, 15–10[18] | Winner | |
1999 | 15–6, 15–13[19] | Winner | ||
2004 | 15–6, 15–1[20] | Winner |
Coaching career[]
After retiring from his playing career, Pullela founded the Gopichand Badminton Academy in 2008 after reportedly mortgaging his own house.[21] Nimmagadda Prasad, a renowned industrialist, donated ₹50 million (equivalent to ₹140 million or US$1.9 million in 2019) on a condition that his academy win a medal for India at the Olympics in badminton.[22] The academy produced several badminton players including Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu, Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap, Srikanth Kidambi, Arundhati Pantawane, Gurusai Datt, and Arun Vishnu.[23] Saina Nehwal went on to win the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and P. V. Sindhu went on to win the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal in pandemic-hit 2020 Olympics held in Tokyo July–Aug 2021 and also became the first Indian to win the BWF World Championships. Pullela also served as the official Indian Olympic Badminton Team coach at the 2016 Rio Olympics held in Brazil.[21]
Awards and honours[]
- Arjuna Award, 1999.[6]
- Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, 2001 [24]
- Padma Shri, 2005[25]
- Dronacharya Award, 2009 [26]
- Padma Bhushan, 2014[7]
- Rewards for Coaching the silver medal Winner at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics
- ₹10 million (US$140,000) Reward from Telangana Government
- ₹1 million (US$14,000) from Badminton Association of India[27]
- ₹5 million (US$70,000) Reward from Andhra pradesh Government
- ₹1 million (US$14,000) from Badminton Association of India
- Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, 2013, under Category Establishment and Management of Sports Academies of Excellence- Pullela Gopichand Academy of Badminton, Hyderabad[28]
- He was bestowed upon an honorary doctorate by IIT Kanpur on the occasion of their 52nd Convocation.
Personal life[]
Pullela married fellow badminton player P. V. V. Lakshmi on 5 June 2002.[29] They have two children, a daughter named Gayathri and a son.
In Dec 2020, he launched guided meditation sessions for athletes named "Dhyana for Sports" in the App Dhyana. The sessions have been designed by him based on his experience training athletes. He is also the Director of Dhyana.[30] Dhyana in collaboration with Heartfulness Institute was the official meditation partner of the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) for Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. [31]
References[]
- ^ "Pulella Gopichand". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ^ "Historical Ranking". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 7 February 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Pulella Gopichand". mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ "P Gopichand". The Times of India. 11 December 2002. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Pullela Gopichand – The Founder". Gopichand Badminton Academy. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "LIST OF ARJUNA AWARD WINNERS". Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Pullela Gopichand thanks Badminton Fraternity for Padma Bhushan". IANS. Biharprabha News. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Pullela Gopichand – Badminton Player". webindia123.com. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ "His hard work and dedication has paid off". The Tribune. 11 March 2001. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ "Still a crusader". The Tribune. 15 April 2001. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ Our Correspondent in Birmingham (10 March 2001). "Gopichand enters All-England final". rediff.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- ^ "Randhawa's wait for Padma Shri ends". The Tribune. 26 January 2005. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ "India Open 1997 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ "French Open 1999 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ^ "German Open 1999 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ "All England Open 2001 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ "Open de Toulouse Int 99 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ "Scottish Int 1999 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ "India International 99 (I): Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ "Indian Asian Satellite 2004: Draws: MS". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "How Indian badminton rocketed on the Gopichand shuttle". The Hindu. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ "All that went into the making of Gopichand Academy". The Hindu. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ Dua, Aarti (1 August 2010). "Star maker". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- ^ [2]
- ^ IANS (19 August 2016). "Rio 2016: BAI announces cash awards for 'Silver' Sindhu, Coach Gopichand". mykhel.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- ^ "National Sports Awards to be Presented on 31st August, 2013". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- ^ "Gopichand to wed Lakshmi".
- ^ Arora, Devesh (10 December 2020). "Dhyana app brings Pullela Gopichand as mental fitness trainer: Here's what you need to know". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- ^ Tewari, Saumya (21 July 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Dhyana partners Heartfulness Institute for Indian contingent". mint. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
External links[]
- PULLELA Gopichand at BWF.tournamentsoftware.com
- 1973 births
- Living people
- Indian male badminton players
- Indian sports coaches
- Telugu people
- Indian national badminton champions
- Racket sportspeople from Andhra Pradesh
- Badminton coaches
- Badminton players at the 2002 Asian Games
- Badminton players at the 1998 Asian Games
- People from Prakasam district
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India
- Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India
- Recipients of the Arjuna Award
- Recipients of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna
- Recipients of the Dronacharya Award
- Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports
- Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports
- Commonwealth Games medallists in badminton
- Badminton players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
- Badminton players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
- Olympic badminton players of India
- Badminton players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Asian Games competitors for India
- Indian badminton coaches