Time to focus on 2020 stars now, says Gopichand

Years from now, the legend of Pullela Gopichand would be whispered in the hallowed halls of Indian badminton. Churning out champions with alarming consistency is not enough for the soft-spoken Dronacharya awardee. He also ensures they win medals at the Olympic Games — the biggest stage of them all. First Saina Nehwal pocketed a bronze at London 2012, and now, Sindhu created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver.

But cut through the noise and you’ll see Gopi has his feet firmly planted on the ground.

“I wanted to retire after I won All England (in 2001). I thought I would retire after the London Olympics. and if someone had asked me what I would do if we won a medal in Rio, I would have said, ‘I will retire.’ But seeing the sort of support I get, I always feel encouraged to continue. My support staff here, my parents, my wife and kids who never complain when they don’t see me as often as they would like to, all of them give me strength to continue. Mine is not a one-man show. It is a team effort,” said Gopi on Monday.

While visibly thrilled with Sindhu’s achievement in Rio de Janeiro, Gopi feels his star charge is still a few years away from truly coming into her own.

“She is still far away from truly realising her potential,” Gopi said. “I feel we’ve only seen glimpses of what she is capable of. She has another 10 years of playing left, and hopefully she realises what I can see — somebody who can be head and shoulders above the rest.

“She would win two or three tournaments a year, but she has not always been consistent. But I always believed she can deliver and she did in Rio,” he added.

Her best quality Her willingness to listen to the coach. “There’s a lot of positive energy about her. Whenever I tell her to show up at a certain time, regardless of how early it might be, she would just show up. That kind of encourages you to give your 100 per cent,” Gopi said.

The chief national coach took a dig at criticism from certain quarters in the recent past on India’s disappointing Rio show. “Every athlete who has gone to the Olympics has given it their best shot. We are not reasonable with her expectations. And when they don’t, we slam them, which can be upsetting.”

A bronze in London, a silver in Rio. Is that a gold medal beckoning in Tokyo, in 2020 “When I walked in to the academy today, there were several young girls who said to me, “2020 is our time to shine at the Olympics,” he said with a smile, barely masking his pride, a pride every iota of which is well-deserved.