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."

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.