NEW DELHI: National badminton coach and former All England champion
Pullela Gopichand has been acknowledged for his unflinching role in making India a powerhouse in world badminton by winning the Mentor of the Year award at the Mahindra Scorpio
Times of India Sports Awards
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Gopichand, a recipient of the Dronacharya and Arjuna awards as well as the Padma Bhushan, has almost single-handedly turned India into a badminton superpower through his work as a guru to the cream of Indian badminton, and many youngsters being groomed for the next generation, at his state-of-the-art academy in Hyderabad.
His pupils include
Kidambi Srikanth, currently World No 3 and the first Indian in 2017 to win four Super Series titles; PV Sindhu, currently women's World No 4 and Olympics and World Championship silver medalist; Saina Nehwal, current No 11 and Olympics bronze medalist; HS Prannoy, the current World No 13 who last year beat three-time Olympic silver medalist former No 1 Lee Chong Wei, as well as No 4 Chen Long. Gopichand has also nurtured the likes of Parupalli Kashyap, B Sai Praneeth, Gurusai Dutt, N Sikki Reddy, Pranav Chopra, B Sumeeth Reddy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Rituparna Das, Sameer and Sourabh Verma and young Siril Verma.
His academy has produced five players in the top 25 of the world and three of his young students won medals in the Under-15 women's and doubles' events at the International Junior Grand Prix last year.
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