Gopi’s gurukul
   Date :23-Dec-2019

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GURUKUL! The very word transcends one to the gone-by era of rishis where princes would learn various arts and statecraft at the feet of the Guru at a very early age. Badminton Gurukul, the brainchild of national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, is aiming to do something very similar to promote the game in the country. Badminton Gurukul, which has the support of two corporate houses, has decided to address the coaching needs of budding badminton players in the country, thereby planning big for the game. It is due to his efforts along with a few international players that country’s players have been making world headlines in the last few years so rich is current crop of players among boys and girls. In fact the country can now boast of a world champion in PV Sindhu.
 
PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal have been among the top players in international badminton scenario for the last few years. However, both have suffered reverses in recent outings. In fact the slump in the form of Sindhu has been so pronounced lately that she has not been able to defend her world title. From top position she has slipped to sixth place in world ranking and Saina has gone down to 11th. But Gopichand is confident that ‘Sindhu is too good a player to lie low for long and that she will bounce back strongly ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.’ These girls and boys have benefitted from the support that Gopichand has been giving to them all the while.
 
Gopichand believes that India has now emerged as a strong badminton powerhouse in Asia. And that is very significant in view of the fact that India now has joined Asian powerhouses like China, Japan, Malaysia etc. This has not happened overnight. Talent was there but it needed to be nurtured. Gopichand and his co-travellers who have thought of the concept of Gurukul know what is needed to be done to promote the game in the country. And it is because of their efforts that over the last few years a rich crop of players has emerged throughout the country. But they are not content with what has been achieved so far. They have drawn up elaborate plans for the future.
 
Gopichand is aware that to maintain this trend much more needs to be done not only for grassroots level development programme but also laying focus on world class coaching. The Gurukul concept will play a vital role in this regard. That the Badminton Gurukul has the Tata Group and TVS Logistics Group as partners in the venture augers well for the development of the game because such initiative needs lot of support. The effort is indeed highly welcome as over 1000 players across 14 states of the country will be benefitting from this structured programme.