Pullela Gopichand

Pullela Gopichand (born November 16, 1973, Nagandla, Andhra Pradesh, India) is an Indian badminton player who in 2001 became the second Indian after Prakash Padukone (won in 1980) to win the prestigious All England men’s singles badminton championship. Gopichand has been credited with popularizing badminton in India. As of 2024 the country’s two Olympic medals in badminton had been won under the stewardship of Gopichand as coach.

Early life

Gopichand’s family moved to Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh state when he was a young boy. He did not start playing badminton until age 11, and he then played recreationally, not competitively. Indeed, the young Gopichand was more interested in playing cricket and was encouraged to take up badminton instead by his brother, Pullela Rajasekhar. Gradually Gopichand began participating in local competitions, and in 1991 he was selected for his state’s junior badminton team. He won the junior national championship at age 18.

As Gopichand began to ascend the Indian badminton rankings, he moved to Bangalore (now Bengaluru), where he trained at the badminton academy run by Padukone. A series of knee injuries in the mid-1990s threatened to end Gopichand’s career, but a successful arthroscopic procedure and determined rehabilitation on his part put him back on track, and he was able to play professionally in Germany from 1997 to 1999.

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Playing career

Gopichand dominated men’s badminton in India, winning the national championships five years in a row from 1996 to 2000. He carried Indian badminton to great heights at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where he won an individual bronze and helped the national side win the silver medal. In 2000 Gopichand helped India reach the finals of the Thomas Cup and represented his country at the Summer Olympics in Sydney. The crowning achievement of Gopichand’s career came in March 2001 with his All England badminton championship win. He defeated China’s Chen Hong 15–12 and 15–6 in the final match, which lasted just 44 minutes. In so doing, Gopichand joined his mentor Padukone as the only Indians to win the most prestigious individual badminton event. The most impressive aspect of Gopichand’s triumph was that he did not drop a single game throughout the tournament, winning each of his matches in a dominant fashion.

Coaching career, awards, and family

In 2006 the Badminton Association of India named Gopichand the coach of the Indian national badminton team, and in 2008 he opened a badminton academy in Hyderabad. As coach, he has been instrumental in the Olympic medals won by female badminton players Saina Nehwal (bronze in 2012) and P.V. Sindhu (silver in 2016).

Gopichand is the recipient of two of India’s highest civilian honors—the Padma Shri (2005) and the Padma Bhushan (2014)—as well as its top sporting awards—the Arjuna Award (1999), the Khel Ratna (2001), and the Dronacharya Award (2009). Gopichand is married to former badminton player P.V.V. Lakshmi, and their daughter, Gayatri Gopichand, also plays the sport professionally.