HYDERABAD: He thinks ahead of the times. The first academy was the fruition of his hard work and dedication. He had left no stone unturned in his endeavour to procure the land and establish a world class badminton academy at Gachibowli. That academy came in 2008 and over the years he envisaged a hope of starting a second one to take the pressure off the first one. Pullela Gopichand finally was forced to open a second one, a few kilometers away from the first one, beside the Centre for Good Governance office, after 18 months of sweat and toil. It is a victory of sorts for the former all-England champion now that the game of badminton has reached a new high.
Speaking after the inauguration of the second academy, an elated Gopichand says it was imperative and high time to open the second one. “We have a good number of players coming out of the existing academy. Since the last few years, we were feeling the need to have more courts. It was also difficult to accommodate all of them in one academy. Of course, we have had some good performances from the Indian players of late but what is important is now is to work on consistency. I would like players to win tournaments on a consistent basis.’’
Gopichand, who always looks for perfection and innovation, said he was working on this project for the last two years. “Then we had an agreement with Sports Authority of India (SAI) to build a second one. This will be called SAI-Gopichand Academy. This new academy with nine courts can accommodate 60 trainees. It is a good addition and hopefully we will produce more quality players from these two academies,’’ he added.
The national coach said there are a few variations from the old academy. “The new courts can be moved in different directions. We will have a total of 17 courts now, including old one, and can take 130 players.’’
Built on one acre at a cost of Rs 8 crore, the courts of international standards have got some help from the Chinese. The courts are laid on plywood an come with a rubber cushion and wood bushes. “It has equal bounce on all parts of the court to ensure maximum comfort of the players.” Unlike the first one, the courts will be on the first floor while the accommodation, gym facilities and video conference are on the ground floor. Commonweath Games gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap said it was a welcome feature. “With an increase in number of players, there was need of a second academy. This will ease the pressure,’’ he says.
Henceforth, the singles and doubles camps will be held separately. “It will rotate every two months,’’ he informs. Earlier, Governor ESL Narasimhan and State IT Minister KT Rama Rao, who is also the president of the Telangana Badminton Association, inaugurated the academy formally.