You cannot talk about Indian badminton and Pullela Gopichand separately. The two are closely intertwined. The Pullela Gopichand Academy, the nursery of Indian badminton, has been churning out stars for the past few years. The latest one is 24-year-old B.Sai Praneeth from Hyderabad. Praneeth created history by becoming the fourth Indian badminton player to win a Super Series event.
Praneeth says that his coach Gopichand did not say a word to him the night before the final match. "He doesn't interfere at all, he lets us be. Post the final, Gopi simply said 'Congratulations on a good job'," Praneeth told THE WEEK.
Praneeth beat his best friend, training partner and fellow academy camper Kidambi Srikanth in the finals. It was for the first time ever that the finals of a super series event was an all Indian affair. Badminton used to be an all Chinese affair, even all Malaysian. The 2017 Singapore Open finals seems to have changed it all. Both players knew each other's games inside out and there wasn't much to be said to either ahead of the game by coach or support staff. The final lasted for one hour and eleven minutes in which Praneeth eventually prevailed by beating Srikanth for 15-21, 21-14, 21-19.
So what did the friends talk about after the final? "Sri congratulated me as soon as the match ended and then we both had to go for the medal ceremony and press conference. After that we spoke a lot but nothing about badminton. It was the usual chatter between us!" said Praneeth.
For Praneeth, winning a super series event was the big goal. He had been trying hard over the last two years but moving past the quarter final stage was proving to be elusive. He had displayed enough spark to be a top singles player. He was a giant killer of sorts, notching up wins against heavyweights like Indonesian Taufiq Hidayat, Olympic gold medalist Lin Dan and world number 1 Lee Chong Wei. Yet, consistency of results became an issue. He had even stretched opponents to three setters but couldn't clinch the win. His coaches felt that his game was not the problem, but his mental tenacity and fitness. "It was very frustrating not to build on the wins in the past or win a super series event. I used to think about it a lot. The consistency was missing but eventually I found that," said Praneeth.
Currently ranked 30th in the world, Praneeth did not miss out on the chance to announce his arrival on the big stage even though he got the advantage of top seeds Lin Dan and Chen Long of China, Lee Chong Wei pulling out of the tournament as did world number 5 Jans Jorgensen of Denmark.
Needless to say, Gopichand has been his inspiration and reason to take to the game. Praneeth took to badminton after watching his mother's sister, Sridevi Kasturi—a national level player, play the game. His grandfather is his biggest supporter. "As a child I only wanted to play badminton. I used to watch Gopi sir play, my aunt was his contemporary. As soon as he opened his academy I joined it. I have been here since the age of 12," said Praneeth, who won the bronze at the Junior World Champions in 2010.
Injuries to foot, ankle and shin have also been a reason for pegging back his badminton career. Praneeth had a chat with Gopichand about his inability to break the barrier of reaching the final rounds of big events. “He was pretty sure about my ability to do so. The only thing he told me was to improve my fitness. I was winning one match but then not able to sustain my efforts in the next game. “
He suffered another injury in January in the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold event. He skipped All England Open and focussed only on his fitness post January. "For the next two months I focussed only on my fitness."
For now the newly-crowned champion is basking in the limelight of his achievement. But soon there will be more competitions lined up, the time to sit back and savour the win is small. With the bogey of a super series title win off his back, he is confident about building his performance. "I will look to maintain my performance now, to be more consistent."
