If Indian badminton wants to improve upon its performance in the London and Rio Olympics, the authorities need to plug loopholes affecting the entire badminton scenario and create a favourable eco-system for players, coaches and support staff, says India’s chief national coach Pullela Gopichand.
Gopichand, speaking at a badminton event, spelt out the ills plaguing the badminton administration and how it was affecting the growth of the game. He stressed on the need to have a “system-driven, coach-led and athlete-centric” integrated approach to brighten India’s medal prospect at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s easy to climb the first step in world badminton, but as we go forward, the task would become all the more challenging,” Gopichand said. “The next logical step is the gold medal at Tokyo. But for that we would be competing against badminton’s best countries, coaches, players and systems. Are we ready for it? The answer lies in strengthening our own system.”
“We need to build on Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu’s Olympic medals. It’s important that we move together as a system.” He also emphasised on the need to tackle the menace of age-fraud in the junior competitions.
