News of badminton star PV Sindhu flying out to London grabbed headlines in a leading daily in India on Tuesday. In the normal course, for an athlete like Sindhu to be travelling abroad is no big deal. Just that this time, the story which appeared spoke of the Rio Olympics silver medallist being upset with her family and national coach P. Gopichand was sensational.
It took little time for Sindhu to rubbish this news on Insta, and rightly so. Her relation with her family members is one of respect and love, so to suggest she fought with them and went to London was absurd. Equally absurd was the suggestion she had a fall-out with Gopi Sir. The fall-put happened long ago, actually,’
For those not familiar with Indian badminton, Gopi and controversies are interlinked. The former All England champion who is reckoned to have produced champions like Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu is a great tactician on and off court.
Yes he has worked with both these superstars but it is also well known he is a control freak. When players are young, they like to listen and be patient. Once they achieve success, they start thinking on their own and cannot be like parrots listening to His Master’s Voice — aka Gopichand.
In 2014, when Saina left the SAI academy run by P.Gopichand before the Incheon Asian Games, it made headlines. It is well known Saina was unhappy with the academy and chose to work with Vimal Kumar in Bengaluru. Of course, Saina did return to Hyderabad later and the rest is history.
Oh, wait, maybe it is history happening again as one more player has “left” the Gopichand academy.
With clarifications coming from Sindhu and her father PV Ramanna as to why she went to London, it will be interesting to see the response from the Sports Ministry and the Sports Authority of India. Sindhu is an elite athlete and part of the TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) as well. So, for her to “leave” India and go to London needs to be discussed.
By her own admission, the visit to London is to get herself assessed in a lab which is very well known. The Gatorade project is reckoned to be sophisticated and helps athletes to assess what their body needs best for recovery. Considering the fact that Sindhu trains very hard and has spent a long time in India, her decision to travel to London was after discussing with her think-tank. She discussed this with her own family first and other experts but Gopichand may not have been part of this at all.
The main question which begs and answer is what Dad Ramanna has said that Sindhu does not get to play enough at the Gopichand Academy. She will get the chance to spend eight weeks in London and maximise her potential is the general feeling now.
When Sindhu chose not to travel for just one tournament to Denmark recently, it made sense. Her international ranking is stable and the real challenge will be in 2021, before the Tokyo Olympics.
Till such time as Sindhu returns, the SAI, BAI and the Sports Ministry will do well to find out what is the rift between her and the SAI Gopichand Academy. If there is smoke, then check it out. This is not the first time a badminton legend has gone out for a break from the academy. The only difference now is Sindhu has been very diplomatic and is using the chance to get herself checked at a great performance lab.
However, one should not brush aside the remarks of her father, that Sindhu does not get to play enough in the academy. Even as far as coaching goes, it is not Gopi but the foreign coaches who spend more time honing her skills. The issue is not about Guru Gopi but it is about the stink in a premier national academy funded by SAI.
Mr. S. Kannan
Senior, Sports Journalist
