From Coaching Champion to Proud Father: Gopichand Celebrates Gayatri’s Historic Week

It was a week of remarkable milestones for Gayatri Gopichand, and for her father and India’s chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, the achievements carried a special emotional significance.

Gayatri, partnering Treesa Jolly, won her maiden World Championships bronze in women’s doubles before being honoured with the prestigious Arjuna Award. The twin achievements made it a landmark week for the young shuttler and a proud moment for her family.

Gopichand, however, insisted that his emotions as a coach remained the same whether he was watching Gayatri or any other player.

“I’m very proud of the way she’s played,” he said, adding that having two Arjuna Awardees in one family was a rare achievement. Gopichand himself received the honour in 1999.

The bronze also helped India maintain its impressive record of winning at least one medal at every World Championships since 2011.

Assessing India’s overall campaign, Gopichand described it as “decent”, although he felt the team was unfortunate to lose several closely fought matches. He now expects a stronger performance at the upcoming Asian Games.

PV Sindhu’s narrow quarterfinal defeat against China’s Wang Zhi Yi was disappointing, but Gopichand said her Japan Open victory and World Championships performance showed she was moving in the right direction.

He also backed Lakshya Sen to recover from his early exit, pointing to the player’s consistency over the years.

Gopichand said India’s leading shuttlers are increasingly working with dedicated professional teams, allowing them to prepare individually while building stronger team chemistry for events such as the Thomas Cup.

He also highlighted the growing importance of the tumble and spin serve, particularly in doubles, where the opening four shots can often decide the direction of a rally.

With the Asian Games approaching, Gopichand remains hopeful that India can turn its recent lessons into a stronger team performance.