Not leaving Gopichand academy: Parupalli Kashyap

Parupalli Kashyap on Wednesday put an end to rumours of a rift with chief coach Pullela Gopichand. It was reported that Kashyap would shift base to Bengaluru to train with noted coach Tom John, but the Hyderabad shuttler on Wednesday rubbished those reports.

“It was a complete misrepresentation of facts,” Kashyap told this newspaper. “I had come to Bengaluru only for two months as Gopi bhaiya was first busy with the Olympics-bound shuttlers and then, he was in Rio.

“My trainer Declan is from Bengaluru, so I thought it would be easier to just come here and work on my rehabiliation,” said the 29-year-old who just recovered from a knee injury.

“It would have been ridiculous for me to expect Gopi bhaiya to devote any time to me when he needed to work with our Olympians. It would have been different had I qualified, but that was not so,” he said, adding: “I will return to Hyderabad, but first I’m playing tournaments in Indonesia and Japan.”