My life is complete: Gopichand
Saina Nehwal poses with the Olympic bronze medal beside her coach P. Gopichand and P. Kashyap—AFP
Pullela Gopichand is a happy, content man. Through Saina Nehwal, he had fulfilled his dream of winning an Olympic medal for India, something he could not do as a player.
“Thank you Saina, for the medal. Because if you hadn’t won this, my life would have been incomplete,” said Gopi, clearly struggling to maintain composure upon their return to Hyderabad on Tuesday.
“When a player ends his career without winning a medal, he sort of goes through the rest of his life disappointed. I have been very lucky in that regard, as I was able to win a medal for my country as a coach.”
In the immediate aftermath of Saina getting awarded the medal, Gopi said he had quite a bit of trouble coming to terms with the magnitude of her achievement.
“That night, I couldn’t help but think about last year. We were in Denmark in October and she had just lost to Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk. She faced many ups and downs by that point and she came to me, crying. She asked me to do something about it as she wasn’t able to take it anymore.
“I was in tears myself as I didn’t know what to do,” Gopi recalled. “I then promised her she would win an Olympic medal. And she did.”
“Since that moment, I have been by Saina’s side constantly. I travelled with her and also ensured I never set foot out of Hyderabad if she was in the city. Lakshmi (Gopi’s wife) would turn off the TV at 9.30 pm as I had to be at the training session by 4.30 in the morning. Without their constant support, this would not have been possible,” he said.
“For all of us who had dreamt, while building this academy (the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy), that we would bring home an Olympic medal, our dream has come true,” Gopi said.
“With Saina’s medal, all my goals in life are complete. I will have to go home and re-evaluate. I will have to think about what next,” Gopi added, with a chuckle.
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