‘Abundant talent, but need proper grooming’
Guwahati: Former All-England champion and Indian national coach Pullela Gopichand said Assam has some of the best shuttlers who could perform wonders at the national level, when provided with the proper grooming.
Gopichand, who was on a three-day tour to Guwahati for the India International Challenge Badminton Championship that concluded this evening, spoke to The Telegraph regarding the state’s shuttlers.
He said the state that had produced the likes of two-time Olympian Dipankar Bhattacharjee, Mallika Baruah and Sushanta Bora still has the potential to produce many more world class shuttlers if more efforts were made in that direction.
“The players from Assam have great potential. The players have good physical build, stamina and most of them are in the reckoning. What is most important about them is their agility, which is vital in badminton. They just need a structural set-up in the form of an academy with good coaches,” the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee said.
“It is important to have long-term coaching programmes so that talented players can be groomed into world class players. Short stints abroad cannot help any player to develop their skills. Rather than spending money on coaching programmes abroad, the organisers should concentrate on well-organised long-term coaching programmes under competent coaches at home,” Gopichand said, when told that the Assam shuttlers were sent on a coaching tour to Indonesia before the 33rd National Games in February this year.
Asked if he would help the Assam Badminton Association conduct long-term camps here, he said he would do so if asked.
Gopichand said Bibari Basumatary, Anshuman Hazarika and Rimi Hazarika and a few others have the potential “but need to work really hard in certain areas to develop their skill”, referring to the nine Assam players he had trained during the last three days.
He also appreciated Krishna Dekaraja of Assam, who has represented India on several occasions.
“This tournament has been an opportunity for the Assam players to learn a lot. It’s always good to have international events at home for the respective province’s players,” Gopichand added.
The former national champion said the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium was one of the best in the country, when asked about the sports infrastructure in the state.
However, when asked about the poor utilisation of the infrastructure as far as sports was concerned, he said it was because of a lack of proper planning.
He said in case of most of the National Games-organising cities, infrastructure is often developed on the city’s outskirts, where sportspersons rarely use them later on.
Posted on: The Telegraph (December 6)
Guwahati: Former All-England champion and Indian national coach Pullela Gopichand said Assam has some of the best shuttlers who could perform wonders at the national level, when provided with the proper grooming.
Gopichand, who was on a three-day tour to Guwahati for the India International Challenge Badminton Championship that concluded this evening, spoke to The Telegraph regarding the state’s shuttlers.
He said the state that had produced the likes of two-time Olympian Dipankar Bhattacharjee, Mallika Baruah and Sushanta Bora still has the potential to produce many more world class shuttlers if more efforts were made in that direction.
“The players from Assam have great potential. The players have good physical build, stamina and most of them are in the reckoning. What is most important about them is their agility, which is vital in badminton. They just need a structural set-up in the form of an academy with good coaches,” the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee said.
“It is important to have long-term coaching programmes so that talented players can be groomed into world class players. Short stints abroad cannot help any player to develop their skills. Rather than spending money on coaching programmes abroad, the organisers should concentrate on well-organised long-term coaching programmes under competent coaches at home,” Gopichand said, when told that the Assam shuttlers were sent on a coaching tour to Indonesia before the 33rd National Games in February this year.
Asked if he would help the Assam Badminton Association conduct long-term camps here, he said he would do so if asked.
Gopichand said Bibari Basumatary, Anshuman Hazarika and Rimi Hazarika and a few others have the potential “but need to work really hard in certain areas to develop their skill”, referring to the nine Assam players he had trained during the last three days.
He also appreciated Krishna Dekaraja of Assam, who has represented India on several occasions.
“This tournament has been an opportunity for the Assam players to learn a lot. It’s always good to have international events at home for the respective province’s players,” Gopichand added.
The former national champion said the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium was one of the best in the country, when asked about the sports infrastructure in the state.
However, when asked about the poor utilisation of the infrastructure as far as sports was concerned, he said it was because of a lack of proper planning.
He said in case of most of the National Games-organising cities, infrastructure is often developed on the city’s outskirts, where sportspersons rarely use them later on.
Posted on: The Telegraph (December 6)
