BAI chief to meet players and coaches
September 7, 2017
Badminton Association of India president Himant Biswa Sarma will be meeting the players and coaches — headed by the chief national coach P. Gopi Chand and assisted by the Indonesian singles specialist coach Mulyo Handoyo and others — here on Sept. 9 as part of the efforts to draw a road map for the 2020 Olympics.
Best bet
“Given the wonderful performances of the Indian shuttlers in the recent months — including K. Srikanth winning two back-to-back Super Series titles, Sai Praneeth claiming one and H.S. Prannoy doing well — the BAI chief, who will be in the city actually for a GST meeting, is keen to put in place a comprehensive training programme as badminton happens to be the best bet for a medal in the next Olympics too,” a senior official of the BAI informed The Hindu on Wednesday.
This will be interesting in the backdrop of the two of the leading women shuttlers P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal now training together at the Gopi Chand Academy.
Complete freedom
It is said that the players will be given complete freedom to express what more they are looking for in terms of training, coaching support and tournaments exposure and will be involved in the whole process of planning.
The BAI president is also expected to visit the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium to get a first-hand view of its viability to be the BAI’s own National Coaching Centre.
“It is an indisputable fact that Gopi has set a benchmark in coaching which is not easy to be emulated by many in India and let us remind that he is an integral part of all the plans to take Indian badminton to the next level,” the official said.
Originally, the BAI chief was also to honour the medallists in the recent World championship — silver medallist Sindhu and the bronze medallist Saina — but that had to be put off as some players will be leaving for the Korean Open.
