14-year-old Gayatri Gopichand defeats Brazilian shuttler ranked 706 spots higher than her

What’s The Story

Gayatri Gopichand, the daughter of the great Pullela Gopichand is all set to hit big in the international badminton arena. Gayatri has moved to Round of 32 stage of the on-going World Junior Championship after defeating Jaqueline Lima of Brazil by 15-21, 21-18, 21-11. The way she came back after losing the first ga was commendable. Along with her, Akarshi Kashyap and Ashmita Chaliha reached the round of 32.

What makes Gayatri's feat all the more special is that being ranked at 1,027 in the world, she defeated Lima, who currently stands at 321

In case you didn’t know:

Gayatri Gopichand, who won a double in the all India sub-junior ranking badminton earlier, has been working hard on her game for over eight hours a day. She also said that due to practice and training sessions she can’t give time to her family and friends but at the same time she showed confidence of representing the country in Olympics one day.

Gayatri’s mother P.V.V Lakhshmi, who is also a former national champion said that she is happy with her daughter’s progress. She practices in her father’s academy and according to Lakhshmi, they are giving her the best possible professional help her.

The Heart of the Matter:

Gayatri is the daughter of the none other than Pullela Gopichand. It is expected that she will make name for herself in the badminton world. Gopichand is the chief national coach of Indian team now. He runs his own academy named after him and under his coaching, the likes of Saina Nehwal, P.V Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, and many more have achieved a lot in the sport.

In 2001, he won the prestigious All England Open Badminton Championships at Birmingham by defeating the then world number one Peter Gade in the semi-finals before defeating Chen Hong of China to lift the trophy. He became the second Indian to achieve the feat after Prakash Padukone, who won in 1980.

What’s Next:

Since, Gayatri has reached the round of 32, it is expected that she will proceed further. All eyes will be on her and high hopes will surely revolve around the daughter of the great Gopichand. Even if she misses out this time, she has all the capabilities to make it big in near future.

Author’s Take:

Gayatri is very young and she needs time to settle down in the bigger stages. If she concentrates on her game with the valuable inputs from her father, she will surely go miles. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.