India’s chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand feels the “system” needs to set boundaries in place when it comes to manic scheduling of the shuttlers, saying as a country that has not been done.
Gopichand also reiterated that there is a dearth of coaches in India and despite their being potential, it is not being tapped into.
“World over it (crammed scheduling) is a problem. We need to find a solution for it. The players need to be smart and the system needs to put these boundaries in place which as a country we have not done. For future and sustainability of Indian badminton, it’s very important we put these things in perspective,” Gopichand told IANS in an interview on the sidelines of ‘Dreams of a Billion: India and the Olympic Games’ book launch by Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta, at the TATA Steel Literary Meet.
Indian shuttlers have been on the road non-stop with almost all top players being involved in tournaments which will also serve as a qualification leading into Tokyo 2020.
On the lack of Indian coaches, he said: “I have mentioned it consistently that we have not worked on our coach development. We have only looked at player development. But for long term sustainability of sport, it is very important to train coaches.
“We have a bunch of juniors and seniors coming up but the numbers needed to coach them are very very less. We need to work on them.”
Gopichand had previously attributed World champion and India’s brightest hope at the Tokyo Olympics PV Sindhu’s dip in form to hectic scheduling.
He also lavished praise on rising star Lakshya Sen, saying he is one for the future.
“He has done exceedingly well, getting into the top 30 in the world ranking is something phenomenal. He has got there so quickly which is amazing. He will be a future player for our country whom we can expect good results from.”
On the book, Gopichand said: “It has chronicled India’s journey in the Olympics and it lasts over a hundred years. The most interesting stories are the ones of yesteryears. What did it take for India to go to the Olympics.
“What happened at the Hitler Games and how did the hockey team win. What were the stories of Dhyan Chand. These were really inspirational. Also stories of Abhinav Bindra and Mary Kom. I think for India to be a sporting nation, these stories have to be heard.”