Pullela Gopichand has created a production line of talent. Other sports must follow suit
The past two years have been banner years for the sport of badminton. Starting with PV Sindhu’s success in the Olympics and the world championships to her victories during several open championships — she has inherited the mantle of Saina Nehwal. Her success has been followed up by several men players as well such as Kidambi Srikanth and the common thread binding them all is ace coach and former player Pullela Gopichand. His academy, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, is now a top destination for parents who wish to make their children into future champions. Crucially, Gopichand has broken the dominance of cricket among the middle class. Sports, particularly badminton, is being considered as a viable career by parents for their children. Of course, success is never guaranteed, particularly in the rough and tumble world of sports. But with the Government recently announcing the ‘Khelo India’ scheme, by which Rs 1,756 crore will be invested into improving sports’ infrastructure and training champion players, India is taking steps in the right direction. However, in sports, like in physical and digital infrastructure, the Government should also look at ‘public-private partnerships’ to really push sports forward. In particular, the Government should work with former champion players, as they did with Gopichand in order to support them with land and financial grants. Despite this, Gopichand had to struggle for a while in order to raise the money required for his academy, but the success of his academy should lead to similar set-ups for other sports such as swimming and football. The Government must encourage corporates to participate in sports funding, as a part of their corporate social responsibility programme as some such as Apollo Tyres has been doing. Broadcasters are also playing a major role, as private broadcasters have popularised league-type establishments for sports such as kabaddi which have been drawing in viewers.
India’s performance at most international meets has been dismal, no Indian was in medal contention at their the athletics or swimming world championships and while Sindhu and Sakshi Malik saved our blushes during the Rio Olympic Games, a country representing a sixth of the world’s population should not be at the lower end of the medals tally. There is no doubt that there is a lot of untapped talent in this country. The remarkable production line for cricketers and now now badminton have proven that. As India’s economy grows India’s success in sports has to grow not solely from reasons of nationalism and doing well at international meets but also commercially. A career in sports, other than cricket, have to made viable for the next generation. And success today is the only way that will happen. Gopichand suffered financially and achieved his aim of establishing a world-class academy only with help from both private individuals and public bodies. The next academies should have their paths a lot clearer.