What’s the story?
Sports Minister Vijay Goel recently felicitated Pullela Gopichand and Kidambi Srikanth for Indian badminton’s success in recent times.
Goel thanked Gopichand for his efforts and acknowledged the hard work put in by the former Indian badminton star in establishing academies all around the country. Goel went on to mention that Indian badminton was making strides in the sporting world and its progress was no less than cricket.
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Special praise was reserved for young shuttler Kidambi Srikanth who is widely tipped to be the next big thing on the badminton courts around the world. Goel said he is an inspiration to the youth and will empower the next generation of Indian badminton players hoping to make an impact on the International scene.
In case you didn’t know…
Kidambi Srikanth recently won back to back championships in Indonesia and Australia, making it six major victories across all badminton competitions. His success comes after India’s PV Sindhu grabbed the silver medal at last year’s Rio Olympics.
Also read: Pullela Gopichand wants the media coverage to be more for badminton
The coach for both these players was Pullela Gopichand who has been pivotal in Indian badminton’s success in recent times. Gopichand also helped Saina Nehwal achieve the lofty standards she reached just a few years ago, and continues to be the driving force behind India’s world domination in the sport.
The heart of the matter
While acknowledging the honour, Gopichand specially thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling government by mentioning how we like to blame the government for everything but we should acknowledge their support in making Indian badminton one of the world’s best. He further added that the academies run thanks to the government’s support and he was honoured to accept the wide encouragement from the Sports Ministry.
Srikanth too had high praise for the Sports Ministry of India and urged the youth to pursue badminton as a sport and subsequently as a career.
What’s next?
The appreciation by the Ministry comes at a good time for Indian sports as our athletes continue to excel around the world. Encouragement from elite governing bodies only motivate young aspiring athletes to work harder in order to achieve their dreams.
Athletes such as Nehwal, Sindhu and Srikanth will only help breed younger talent in the sport and the government’s support will bolster hopes of achieving even higher accomplishments in a sport that is getting bigger in the country every single day.
Author’s take
Indian badminton has taken the spotlight in recent years and the credit for the same rightly goes to Gopichand. Seldom has any coach taken such a keen interest in developing a sport in the country as much as Gopichand has with badminton and it is largely thanks to his hard work that we all get to see our athletes excel on the world stage.
It was indeed a nice gesture on the part of the Sports Minister to felicitate the man behind the success of Indian badminton. Let’s hope an Olympic gold is next on the agenda.
