Pullela Gopichand

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Pullela Gopichand
పుల్లెల గోపీచంద్
Personal information
Country India
Born (1973-11-16) 16 November 1973 (age 50)
Nagandla, Prakasam
Andhra Pradesh, India
Residence Hyderabad, India
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 74kg
Handedness Right
Men's Singles
Highest ranking 5[1] (15 March 2001)
Medal record
Representing  India
Men's badminton
All England Championships
Gold medal – first place 2001 Birmingham Men's singles
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 1998 Kuala Lumpur Men's Team
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Kuala Lumpur Men's Singles
BWF profile

Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is a former Indian badminton player. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001[2] becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone.[3][4] He runs the Gopichand Badminton Academy.[4] He received the Dronacharya Award in 2009 and Arjuna Award in 1999.[5] the only Indian to win the teacher and student awards, and the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award in 2014.[6]

Early life

Pullela Gopichand was born on 16 November 1973 to Pullela Subash Chandra and Subbaravamma at Nagandla, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh .[7] Initially, he was interested in playing cricket, but his elder brother encouraged him to take up badminton instead.[7] He did his schooling from St.Paul's High School, Hyderguda, Hyderabad.He joined A. V. College, Hyderabad and graduated in public administration. He was the captain of the Indian combined universities badminton team in 1990 and 1991.

Playing career

Gopichand was coached by S. M. Arif before Prakash Padukone accepted him at Prakash Padukone academy. He also trained under Ganguly Prasad at the SAI Bangalore.[8][9] Gopichand won his first National Badminton Championship title in 1996, and went on to win the title five times in a row, until 2000. He won two gold and one silver at the Indian national games, 1998 held at Imphal. At the international level, he represented India in 3 Thomas Cup tournaments. In 1996 he won a gold in the SAARC badminton tournament at Vijayawada and defended the crown in the next games held at Colombo in 1997. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games, he won a silver in the team event and a bronze in men's singles. In 1999, he won the Toulouze open championship in France and the Scottish open championship in Scotland. He also emerged winner at the Asian satellite tournament held at Hyderabad in the same year, and lost in the final match of the German grand prix championship.

In 2001, he won the prestigious All England Open Badminton Championships at Birmingham. He defeated then world number one Peter Gade in the semi finals before defeating Chen Hong of China to lift the trophy.[10] He became the second Indian to achieve the feat after Prakash Padukone, who won in 1980.[11]

Coaching career

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Main article: Gopichand Badminton Academy

Gopichand founded the Gopichand badminton academy, a badminton training facility in Hyderabad, India. The facility trains several Indian badminton players including Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi, Parupalli Kashyap, P. V. Sindhu, Gurusai Datt and Tarun Kona

Awards and honours

Personal life

Gopichand married fellow badminton player P.V.V Lakshmi on June 5, 2002.[13] Gopi has a son and a daughter. His daughter,elder of the two siblings,is the current U-13 National Badminton Champion.

References

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