Interview with Pullela Gopichand: "There were people who said that I couldn't be a coach since I had my own fair share of issues."

Pullela Gopichand

Pullela Gopichand has been at the centre of a mighty transformation in Indian badminton, working diligently from his state-of-the-art Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad. The national coach has been turning out an assembly line of top stars from his perch in the south with unfailing regularity.

While Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap set the tone for a new generation of top class players, the emergence of PV Sindhu and K Srikanth from the academy has further underlined the success of Gopichand and his academy.

In the recently concluded National Championships in New Delhi, it was mostly his wards that swept to the podium event after event. Behind these string of successes has been a methodical effort that starts at 4 am every day for the former All England champion.

In our conversation with the affable coach, we learnt about his discipline and dedicated effort, but more importantly, his saint-like determination to be rooted in the moment. Gopichand has a keen eye for detail and watches over his wards with an expert eye as he puts them through the grind that translates talent into performance.

In this interview, we discuss in detail about his transformation from player to mentor, the state of his academy and the prospects of his many protégés. Get a cup of coffee and enjoy this soulful conversation with this wonderful coach and human being.

Can you tell us about the influence of SM Arif and Prakash Padukone on your evolution as a player and also perhaps in your desire to go on and become a mentor/coach?

I think I have been very fortunate in my entire journey. I had very understanding parents to start off with; I think their contribution to my entire effort whether as a player or a coach has been phenomenal. My first coach, Amit Sir, was the one I spent the first five years of my career with. He was somebody who really loved me and who would feed me and then give us a shuttle to play. It just made me feel more at home at the stadium.

Then Arif Sir came in; my formal structure of training began with him. It was very good to be disciplined, to have that structure in place, especially for somebody like me who was very raw, and it helped me get into some kind of a groove. I was talented, but fitness-wise I was really not that great. Arif Sir brought in some discipline and structure into it and my life in general. So I’m very thankful to him for that.

Prakash Sir taught me a lot game-wise, and also I think for so many of India’s badminton players. He taught us a lot about how to manage ourselves, and his influence has been huge on my game as well as on my personality.

The dream of the All England was also due to him; for us in India, in Hyderabad, to actually think of winning the All England was bigger than a dream. Prakash Sir showed us and made us believe that we can do it.

I have also learnt a lot of things from coach Ganguly Prasad; in a lot of ways I have been very fortunate that I could get these coaches to guide me in my career. Unfortunately I couldn’t carry on much longer after that All England win due to injuries. And then there were my fellow players. They may have been state players but their support and contribution was huge.

My coach in Germany, Su Yan, was very important to me; he showed me a lot of ways in which I could train and get better. It was a time where I felt I just needed people around me to support me. So everybody has contributed in a big way and I’m very happy for that.

You had national success, you had consecutive national titles. After that you had to wait for 4-5 years before you could translate that success on to the international stage. You must have learnt during this period. What did you go through at that time, and how have you used that in your coaching career to teach your wards about the transition from domestic to international success?

At that time, the support system wasn’t great. With my injuries and with my work I had almost everything on a trial and error basis, whether it was my rehab, mental training or fitness; everything was on trial and error. So I lost a lot of time there which, when I look back, was probably crucial. But at least I knew what worked and what didn’t. So from a coaching perspective it has worked to my advantage now to help me understand exactly what has happened and what needs to be done.

National successes were important, which I really treasured. So for sure, I wanted to do well in India first. For six years I didn’t lose a match in India and I played all the district events.

We used to get anything between 4 to 6 tournaments to play internationally; this concept of being professional, playing on your own, wasn’t really there. If the government sent us for tournaments, we would go, if it didn’t we wouldn’t.

And the thought of international play was only within me. The entire team wasn’t thinking about it that much; my coaches did, but we never really tried to figure out how to get there.

So if I played well they would congratulate me, if I didn’t sometimes they wouldn’t bother and just focus on the next game and concentrate on that. We would go and play after 3-4 months and it would be forgotten. So that is how things were; it was painful, but there came a time when I got to make the choice in 1999. I said to myself: I’ve won the nationals; I’ve been number 1 in India. Even if I didn’t win any more titles, people would still remember me as a national champion, so why not take the risk?

I took the risk, I moved out of the Prakash academy. I went to the Sports Authority of India (SAI); a place which nobody thought was good to train for world class players. I had a few friends of mine, Guru Prasad, BG Kiran, Sudhir Babu, then Ganguly sir – he was more like a friend of mine rather than a coach.

I had some ideas which other coaches would not have welcomed, but Ganguly sir and I had a good understanding; we worked well together and we got the results. I had to risk being a national champion no more to take the next step forward.

So how gratifying was it to start playing international matches, and how important was it to take the next step?

When I went out to play, whether it was a club match or an international match, I played with a lot of passion whichever tournament it was, whether I lost or won.

During that period when I was in Germany I trained really hard living in very stressful conditions. We just had some music CD’s for company. We just used to train, eat and sleep, train, eat and sleep. And I did that consistently for about four years, and that’s what got me the results. Now when I look back at it, I think the time which I spent in Germany – thinking, meditating, learning about the game – was very helpful.

Gopichand holding aloft the All England trophy in 2001

We have to talk about All England when it comes to you; you were the only man after Prakash to have done it. I think the quarters were when it first started looking like a monumental run. Can you talk us through your quarterfinal match and then the thriller against Peter Gade?

For me, some of the Chinese were very easy to beat because I was very deceptive. They’ve changed a lot from then to now, but their batch was clueless about me. So when I played Xi Xingping, it was over in about 20 minutes and then I beat him a couple of more times in some Premier Series events.

The one against Anders Boesen was a tough match. Looking at the draw today, Taufik was there as a youngster. Luckily for me, Boesen knocked him out, so it was good. And for a player like me, who was good on the hard smashes and on the flanks, Boesen’s shots were not so threatening, and I beat him comfortably. And then came Peter Gade.

He was playing at a pace which was much higher. When I was in SAI, I would take steps to ensure that I would be prepared when I played faster opponents.

He wasn’t prepared; he knew me from his past experiences and had a fair idea of what I used to be. But my movements this time were much faster, in terms of twisting and turning, in putting the shuttle down, and he was caught by surprise. There were lot of mind games played, both of us were trying to be authoritative, and I managed to surprise him.

He was a fantastic player and has contributed so much to the sport, but on that day, I managed to get the better of him. I took a few risks which paid off; also, I was clear in my head and I thought I planned and prepared well for the victory.

When you finished the match, did it feel like half the work done for you?

No I wasn’t thinking about the final at all. At that time, as a player, I lived a very simple life. I would go to the same restaurant, eat the same food. And I was living more like a monk. Only once a week would I call up my parents. The case was the same with All England. I didn’t bother about what was happening around, I just used to follow the same routine. I just took it one match at a time and it clicked. The final was also that way. I was physically tired and I was just recovering from the pain, taking ice baths and massages, and I wasn’t too concerned about what the others are doing.

Do you think that Your All England success led to the government coming forward to support badminton?

From the land perspective, I think so, yes.

I started off as a coach in 2004, and if I hadn’t won the All England, it would have taken some more years for me to establish myself, coach the players, and only after that would the respect follow. But as an All-England player, you directly have that platform where you talk and people listen and you have that honeymoon period of the first two years where they sort of have a lot of faith in you, which is very important. All of that was down to the All England.

Of course, the land also, for the academy, was due to that win. All of this probably would not have materialized if not for that. Gopi as a coach is one thing, but the Gopichand Academy would not have happened unless the two aspects had come together.

I understand that even with all of this, there was a lot of effort and sacrifice in terms of arranging funds. Did you also have to mortgage your property for it?

Honestly, I did not have much property; my house was the only thing I had, which I ended up mortgaging. Also, it was a time when people didn’t believe that there was a possibility of anything happening; badminton wasn’t a story yet. I went to big corporates. One day I actually sat in an office from 9 am to 7 pm to meet a person. He said he didn’t have time, and I ended up spending nearly three days like that. At the end of the third day I was broken when they told me badminton didn’t have the eyeballs. They said badminton was good and that a complex could be built, but medals are not really something one should aspire for.

I came back home and cried, and told my parents that I can’t take this any more. I would call everybody, and nobody would take my calls. And none of these guys even gave me a rupee. When I came back home I decided that we had to do it ourselves. We had a deficit of about three crores, and my dad built this up himself, brick by brick.

He would come every day and supervise the construction, and mom would do the accounts. She was also suffering due to cancer at the time, and was undergoing chemo. All of this went on and despite that they offered to pitch the house. Worst case scenario, they said we could move to a two-bedroom house and that they were ready for it.

We were prepared to sell it, but luckily there was a loan available. The loan guys wanted my personal property and we mortgaged the house. Fortunately, my wife and my parents were both very supportive. We took the decision and thankfully things got done.

We’ve moved forward one step at a time since then, not knowing where we would end up. We have had many challenges on the way too. The government wanted to take the land back at one time, but we fought for it and we had people who supported us, which was good.

There were people who said that I couldn’t be a coach, saying I was too young, that I couldn’t manage manage since I had my own fair share of issues. Nevertheless, we pushed on, and I’m glad that we did, because when I look back at it, I’m not sure I would take up this journey again. It has been a very stressful one, but thanks to God’s grace, it has been good.

Gopichand with CBI Director Ranjit Sinha during an international conference

The academy has of course come a long way since its inception and over the last few years, we have seen it consistently churn out some top players. But before that phase, a lot of badminton enthusiasts, some of my friends too, used to refer to the academy as a good facility, but nothing more. Could you talk us through those formative years?

I would get up in the morning and come to the academy. We initially started off at 8 am with the first session, and then it moved ahead. We started calling players at 7 am, then 6 am, then 5, then 4; we kept pushing. I honestly don’t know why we did it! What I felt when I started coaching was that I had rushed into it a little too early. In 2004, I had started off even before I had a sponsor and before the building was ready. But perhaps what pushed me into starting coaching was the talent within the players that I had – I mean, I would probably get talented players three years down the line too, but this group of kids would be gone. So why not just do it now?

Saina, Sindhu, Kashyap, Gurusai, Sumeet – all of them were from the first batch in 2004 April. And when we started off, I told them if we start later, we’ll miss this group. We’ll have another group, but this one would be lost.

I had actually started coaching these kids in 2003 at a 45-day long summer camp. When I was injured I used to take them through the basics. So I started liking these kids and we jumped into it.

At that time there was a lady called Sunita Dhanraj, who gave us a 10 lakh cheque from the government and the Gachibowli stadium, and told us to start off. We started to get shuttles, and then we had one foreign coach, a couple of other assistant coaches. But the 10 lakh got over in about 6 months’ time and we didn’t have any sponsor.

Still, I kept pushing; I didn’t stop, and said to myself that it really doesn’t matter. We had support from some of my friends – Yonex kept providing shuttles, some people donated money, but 6 months down the line, the foreign coach was gone and I had to spend more time there.

And the academy was still being built. So I would go in the morning, coach between 6 and 10, then come back home, then go to visit potential sponsors, then go in the evening again for coaching, and then all of us would go back. That’s how things were.

For almost 3-4 years it kept going that way. We would have challenges and would manage for the day; the next day was another day. We didn’t get any more funding after that from the government. The initial funding helped me start, but then we had issues with the stadium and the funding, the coaches. Luckily, we kept pushing, and someone or the other was always there at the last moment to help out.

In June 2008 we moved here, after which lot of things got stabilized. There was a long court case though since the government wanted the land back, but we kept fighting. Saina has been a big motivation; she’s been producing results which are very important. It also kept me motivated, kept my stature my reputation up, and gave me a little more time to work on the others – Kashyap, Sindhu, Gurusai and the others.

Tell us a little bit about (your wife) Lakshmi. Obviously when the two of you got together, you had not signed up for this. How did you maintain the balance, and has she ever complained?

She does, but she’s been very supportive. Luckily for me my kids also started playing and so I got to see them on a regular basis. Lakshmi understands everything well, and she is also almost resigned to the fact that badminton is my first love. And apart from this, if I’m spending my time here, and with her, she never complains. If I do this and something else, then she complains about whatever else I’m doing. But I’ve never had any complaints from her for spending more time here.

She sometimes gets a little upset with things and she often says, “that’s enough, let’s wind up” and stuff like that, but of course, not very seriously. It is something that she’s emotional about, that we’re all emotional about. That’s what makes us work well together.

Does she see a bigger role for herself on the courts?

One of the good things is that, all these years, I’ve still worked for Indian Oil – that’s where I get my pay from; Lakshmi works with Bharat Petroleum, my dad works at Hero Motors, my mom works here. So when I look at the success of the academy, I realize it is also due to the fact that we did not have to worry about our pay check.

And I can’t pay Lakshmi enough if she were to join! But hopefully, if things go well, she might have a role on the courts in the future. In any case, because of the above mentioned scenario, the pressure on me is reduced, and we have been able to manage.

And now about the problem of plenty. Earlier, you had Saina and Kashyap. But now we have a host of players coming into the top 20, top 30. Badminton being an individual sport, I’m sure you need to give them your personal attention to hone their game. In the future, as we have more players at the top level, and possibly competing against each other, how would you as a coach divide your attention?

If they face each other, it is actually easy for me, because I’m sitting outside and saying it doesn’t really matter. From a strategic standpoint, the amount of time I spent with Saina in her formative years and the amount of time I have been able to spend with the next group has been different. So it is definitely a challenge. I guess when the time comes, we will figure out a way to do it. I can probably give you a better answer to this question two years down the line. Many of them are dependent on me and we will just have to find people to take over the mantle based on who they might be comfortable with.

It is also tough because it is an individual sport; managing a hockey team or cricket team or football team would probably be a little easier. Here they’re competing against each other; not just competing as a team, but also competing within the team.

Still, it has its positives, because now I don’t have to do much – I can sit back as I know that the work is of good quality and nobody wants to lose.

Managing the stakeholders like the parents, media, and other people outside of badminton, who make casual remarks, is also a big challenge. In the future we may have sponsors too coming in; they may place some very big demands, so we will have to counter that as well.

Gopichand receiving the Dronacharya award in 2009 from then President Pratibha Patil

Out of your four awards, which one gave you the most satisfaction?

Probably the Arjuna Award, being the first one. But I’ve never really looked at awards in that way, probably since I got the awards consistently – the first one in 1999, then 2000, then 2005, and finally 2009. Since I didn’t have to wait for any award for too long, maybe that’s the reason I don’t work for them. Of course, when you look at them, you feel very proud and happy, and if I hadn’t got them I probably would have been a little demoralized, but it has also been a good push for me.

The Dronacharya Award was important for me to establish myself as a coach. Especially as a former player who was good and is now able to also produce good players – from that standpoint it was important.

The All England would perhaps be my biggest prize; the Olympic medal for Saina was also a pretty big moment. Having said that, government recognition, especially when you put it on paper can be very helpful; there are rewards for the academy, for the coach and also for the players.

In India and elsewhere, the All England has a bigger aura than even the World Championships. Is there any reason for that, because even internationally the Championships are held in lower esteem?

See, the World Championships came into existence in 1991, while the All England has a history. When you look at old timers, the All England is the only tournament. So for many of us in India, we would relate badminton to Prakash Sir’s victory at the All England. For us, the All England is big and today, the Olympics for me would be number one, as also for many others. The World Championships perhaps is not so big for another reason – it’s held almost every year instead of once every 3 or 4 years. I wish they would do it at least every second year, or maybe every second year after the Olympics.

The All England on the other hand has a history and people relate to it. That’s the reason why the All England is a bigger draw in our country. I wish the World Championships was there every four years, so that once you’re a champion, you’re world champion for 4 years. Every year there is one, and also you give a bronze medal for third place; it doesn’t really carry that same value because it happens too often.

So you’re saying that today’s players still consider the All England and the Olympics to be the most coveted of the tournaments?

I don’t know, really. The Olympics, yes, for me is definitely number one by a huge margin. And I think most of them also consider that as important.

Another challenge for you as a coach must have been to manage the commercial interests around these players. How do you manage these stars?

It is difficult; there is a gap in terms of thinking, which is difficult to bridge. You cannot run away from reality, and it is not just a player issue but also a societal issue. So even today, when I go out to a restaurant, if something feels too expensive and not worth it, I don’t’ encourage buying it.

But I think it is more of a generational thing, so I don’t really intervene too much on that side and believe that since each of us is different, I leave them to make their own choices.

What I think is good is that at least the Sainas and the Sindhus don’t look at it that way. Saina as such is a very ‘want to win’ kind of girl; whether it is money or whether it is tournaments, she wants more and more. Which is good, that greed is good; she is willing to push herself more and more, that is why you see her playing one Super series after the other. And that’s good, because it keeps her motivated.

So they’re not happy just winning the small ones, they’re always looking at the big tournaments.

Will we see players lasting beyond the age of 30 in the near future, as we see in other sports?

Perhaps, but in India, our society is a little different with family playing an important role. So I don’t know about motivation levels after 30. And I think prize money does not become an issue unlike in Europe and other countries.

It depends though, because the new generation might look at it differently. For us, it was primarily about playing for pride, but for youngsters today, it could be about the money. So they will probably look at it that way. When I lost, I felt I had lost a little pride, which is why I retired after the All England.

If I was playing for money, I probably would have continued playing. When you play for money, you play from contract to contract. Maybe you play a 1-year contract, then you play for IBL, where you get a few lakh rupees, and equipment sponsors then pitches in with some. So if you play for a year, you make around 30 lakh – more than 2 lakh a month – which is pretty good money. 10 years ago that wasn’t the case, but that’s the scenario today. So these players might behave differently from the way that we did.

How’s the relationship with Yonex?

They supported me at a time when nobody else did, so I respect them a lot and that’s why I don’t compete with the new brands.

You mentioned the formats. Earlier we had best of 5, now we have best of 3, earlier we had 15, now we have 21. For you personally, which was the best format?

I personally liked 21, because it probably tested the player a whole lot more. 15 was too direct, too much of endurance involved, and wasn’t spectator friendly.

Gopichand with Saina Nehwal in 2010

On Srikanth, I believe you spotted him at just the right time. When you look at a player like him, how do you figure out that here is a raw talent who can be groomed into a future star? Is it the experience gained as a former player, or just pure instinct?

It’s a combination of everything. One is knowledge, but as a coach what is also of great use is experience by virtue of following the sport for a long time and being involved with the sport, and knowing and relating it to your previous experience. So that’s what helps you make the call when it comes to spotting players.

As a coach, you also need to be confident and be prepared to take that risk. As a player, I was like that – if I thought of something, I would go for it wholeheartedly without holding back. Likewise you have to do the same as a coach, even at the risk of you ultimately being wrong. You can’t say ‘why should I take a chance on this’ and hold back. If you feel something, you should go for it. And that’s how many of these decisions were taken.

For instance, Sindhu didn’t played juniors for a year. Even with Saina, the typical tendency for many coaches would have been to make her go through satellite, challenger, GP, GP Gold, Super Series and then the big ones. But I ensured that that wasn’t the case, and the same for Sindhu – if you’re good, you’re good, and I trusted them to do well. Initially she (Saina) had first round losses, but I believed she was winning material and kept saying that she was going to deliver some good wins. Eventually she did. For a year and a half, we didn’t make her go through the routine.

Do you advise them about their diet from a young age, since that plays such a crucial role? Does the academy have some degree of control over that?

To some extent yes, but beyond that, no. We have all these stat maps, and we try to get them to consume certain foods like sprouts. Everything is available at the academy, but if the player does not want to take it, you can’t force them. We have sprouts, and other stuff which people don’t like to eat, supplements and all that. But players like Saina, Sindhu and Kashyap, Guru, and 5 or 6 others are very good with that.

The next younger lot, not so much; Srikanth, for instance, is still not into it, and Sai has just come into it. They learn with time after listening to me and some of the senior players.

With Srikanth, we’ve seen that he puts in a lot of energy and aggression into his game. When the smashes work, they look great, but often when they don’t do the job and the other player is strong enough to get them back, he is out of position. How have you tried to help him overcome that?

Typically when players get stronger mentally and physically, a lot of the strategy also improves. If he’s physically stronger, he will not look for winners all the time, he will not keep going for smashes all the time. Some of these things evolve as they grow. So when he gets stronger, he will mature and start playing differently. He will have his strokes, but he will use them more judiciously, he will not go for them when he’s out of position. That will happen eventually with good training, good food and good rest. The player has to go there alone.

The thing is that today, we at the academy have made a system whereby if one player slacks off, there is another to try and bring him back on track.

Finally Gopi, what is your long term vision for this academy, looking beyond Rio 2016?

To be very honest, I don’t know whether you should write it down, because it might not be very interesting. I get up in the morning, come here at 4.30, spend the entire day watching people play badminton – I give it all I have, and then I go back home and don’t know whether tomorrow morning I can come back and do it again. I have done this for the last 10 years and hopefully I can do it for many more years in the future.

As a player, I have planned and failed. I had surgery in ’94, ’96, ’98 and 2002. Four surgeries in that period, and in between I played a little bit of badminton. That’s how I look at it. I thank God that through 1999-2001, I got three years of proper badminton. That was the most injury-free phase for me. So I get up in the morning, and if my knee is aching I train a certain way, and if it is not, then I train a different way.

I wish I had more things under my control, I wish I had the programs and everything under my control. Then I could do a lot of things, but unfortunately I’m not. Having gone through a lot of uncertainty as an academy, I don’t know what tomorrow holds.

So maybe I don’t have a vision like that. I just get up in the morning and then I want to learn more, study more and give more and spend more. At the end of the day, I’m still hungry; I jump out of bed and say that this needs to be done. I’m in a hurry all the time, and not relaxed, because I feel that there is so much more we can achieve.

So let’s say for Saina, okay, you won the Olympic medal, but you have two or three more Olympics in you. That’s about the extent of the long-term vision I have.