Pullela Gopichand was happy. That much was obvious on Saturday at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.
He was in the media zone, taking questions from the press after Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly had secured India’s first women’s doubles medal at the World Championships in 15 years. Gopichand is usually generous with his time, happy to discuss badminton and reluctant to make himself the subject. But he is also measured.
On Saturday, there was a little more looseness about him.
When an organiser told one media organisation that it could ask him only two questions, Gopichand pointed out that the previous media organisation had been allowed three.
So they got three.
He smiled. He joked. He stayed on to answer questions about the pair’s tactics, what comes next for them and the wider state of Indian badminton. There was none of the usual hurry to move on. Perhaps he had earned the right to enjoy the moment.
He has produced World champions and Olympic medallists. Now, for the first time, a World Championships medal had come home to the Gopichand household, carried there by one of his own wards: his daughter, Gayatri.
Still, when asked what it felt like to watch Gayatri win a medal at the World Championships, Gopichand reached for the coach’s answer.
“To be honest, I don’t know if I can articulate it in that sense, but I think whenever my players have played, I think I’ve always had the same feeling, and there’s no extra for Gayatri more than I’ve had for any of my players.”
It was measured, as you would expect from Gopichand.
Then came the answer that allowed a little more of the father through.
“I think I’m very proud of what she has achieved. By God’s grace, we have two players in the family who are both Arjuna Awardees. That is quite rare. I’m grateful to God for giving her this opportunity, and I’m very proud of her performance, her results and the way she has conducted herself throughout the tournament.”
THE RIGHT CALL
The journey to that moment had taken years. Gayatri began in singles. She was a talented junior, but injuries disrupted her progress. Eventually, she told her father that she wanted to move to doubles. Gopichand did not try to talk her out of it.
“Yeah, I think it’s the right call,” he said on Saturday.
It turned out to be exactly that.
In 2021, just after Covid, Gayatri and Treesa were paired together. Arun Vishnu, who was involved in their early development, remembers that there were four players to be paired up at the time. Rutaparna Panda was already established, and Gopichand did not want to create controversy by pairing his daughter with her. Tanisha Crasto was paired with Rutaparna, while Treesa was put with Gayatri.
There was also a sporting logic to it. Treesa was comfortable from the backcourt. Gayatri was a natural presence at the front.
The partnership did not become what it is today overnight.
There were injuries and there were periods when consistency proved elusive. Gayatri had the weight of her surname to deal with. Treesa had her own journey, coming from a humble background in Kerala and carrying the responsibility of doing well for her family.
Over time, the pair evolved, with Gayatri becoming more comfortable from the backcourt and Treesa increasingly effective at the net. But they arrived at the World Championships after a shaky period, with Treesa’s injury keeping them out of competitive action for nearly three months and pushing them down the rankings.
By Delhi, both were again comfortable taking responsibility all over the court, the result of 45 days of intensive work under the watchful eyes of Gopichand and coach B Sumeeth Reddy.
On Friday, they faced Jia Yifan and Zhang Shu Xian, a Chinese pair they had never beaten in three previous meetings. They fell 0-6 behind in the opening game. Then they turned it around.
When the final point went their way, the emotion was immediate.
Treesa ran towards Gopichand and hugged him. Gayatri first went across to shake hands with Jia and Zhang before walking towards Gopichand and Sumeeth.
Gopichand kissed his daughter on the forehead.
YOU HAVE DONE IT
Sumeeth had seen enough to understand what it meant.
After the quarter-final, once the medal had been secured, he turned to Gopichand and said: “You’ve done it, Bhaiya.”
Gopichand had been working with the pair relentlessly in the 45 days leading into the tournament, sometimes putting them through two or three sessions a day. Even when they were tired, Sumeeth said, there was always something to be done.
“I mean, you know, he’s a father as well, he’s the chief national coach, and he’s been at this since the last 45 days. So after all that, if, you know, I mean, it’s worth the hard work. I think, yeah, I just said, you know, ‘Bhaiya, you’ve done it. It’s a World Championship medal in your kitty.’”
The medal eventually stayed bronze.
On Saturday, Gayatri and Treesa lost their semi-final to top seeds Tan Ning and Liu Sheng Shu, ending their hopes of changing its colour.
But by then, the important part had already happened.
For India, it was the country’s first women’s doubles medal at the World Championships since 2011. For Gopichand, two of his wards, Gayatri and Treesa, had finally delivered a World Championships medal.
– Ends
Source link
[ad_3]
