Only the government retired me; I plan to continue coaching: Bhaskar Rao

HYDERABAD: After completing three decades as Sports Authority of India (SAI) badminton coach, Bhaskar Rao finally retired this week. He talks about how he started out, how he'll continue training those interested in badminton and the controversy surrounding him after Saina Nehwal left...
How does it feel now that you're retired?
Only Government of India has retired me.I plan to continue coaching young kids and sportspersons. A lot of children trained by me are have secured All India Rankings. I might move to Vijayawada, where I was coaching for 24 years, but I haven't decided when.
You've coached a lot of people... Who's your favourite amongst them?
The list of national and international level players I've trained is very long. Some of the names are Neelima Chaudhri, Chetan Anand, JPS Vidyadhar, B Kiran Kumar, D Swetha, M Radhika, T Srilakshmi, T Soumya, P Sharat Chandra, JS James, and Saina Nehwal.
All of them are dear to me, but if I had to pick, they would have to be Chetan Anand, Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap.
How did you get into badminton?
We are six brothers and at our home in Narsapur, we all used to play badminton. It was way back in the 70s, when people didn't even know what badminton was. But my father, a businessman, was very supportive; he would buy us the equipment and watch us play. I wanted to learn the sport, but at that time, I couldn't find any coach to train under. That's when I decided to become one. After completing my BA, I went to Patiala to do a diploma course in sports, and that honed my skills. After SAI selected me as a coach, I was first posted in Cuttack and then transferred to Vijayawada.
How does it feel when the students trained under you, are glamourised by fans and media?
It definitely feels good. I feel proud that I trained them and they get a lot of attention. But it is good only to some extent. Too much of it can be distracting for any player.
Saina Nehwal left Gopichand and came to you in 2011 and again went back to him. What exactly had happened?
I was coaching Saina Nehwal from 2006 to 2011, in the national core group team. Along with me, there was Gopichand and another coach from Indonesia in the coaching team. Saina came to me for three months in 2011 because she wanted individual attention that she felt was missing from other coaches. But again, it was her decision to go back to Gopichand. When people get better opportunities, they move. I was happy with her decision. I don't want to get into controversial details as to why she took that decision. All I can say is that she has improved a lot. She is very strong, both physically and mentally. This is very important to get ahead in a career in sports.