Badminton has witnessed an unprecedented rise in India with stars like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, N Sikki Reddy among many others leaving their massive impact to the world of shuttle and racquet. And much credit for the rise and success of badminton stars in India has to go to Padma Bhushan awardee Pullela Gopichand.&nbsp;

While the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad has done wonders for the rising and established stars in the world of badminton, the state-of-art academy continues its partnership with Tata Trusts’ badminton programme in the state of Mizoram as they look to&nbsp;unearth and polish&nbsp;new talent while also giving a platform for better players to continue taking giant strides to improve their game.&nbsp;

“When I first went to Mizoram, my thinking was that it won’t have passion for badminton. But what I saw there made me so happy because every community had a center with a badminton court. Players used to gather in evening to play and that bonding and passion which I saw within the players made me happy. There are around 840 players playing badminton regularly in grassroot community centers and after witnessing their talents, I am sure there will be many players from Mizoram who will go on to make it big,” Pullela Gopichand told WION in an exclusive interaction.

<img alt="Gopichand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0b06d94b-4615-419a-bb38-2620f89f88bd" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/IMG_20190325_161009.jpg" />

Sporting action came to a halt globally due to COVID-19 pandemic that forced many camps to shut down. As playing fields remained empty for months, awareness around the importance of fitness and immunity for health despite the social distancing, has only increased. The impact on children and young adults is especially greater as sports and gaming activities provide opportunities to engage and socialize and help with overall development of an individual in society. In order to stay connected and for aspirational athletes to continue their training, it is important to look at alternate methods during this forced break because of the pandemic.

“We were looking at video to connect to coaches and players but we weren’t sure when we would be able to go ahead with it. In this time of pandemic, that process was fastracked in this time and we were able to connect with coaches and players while monitoring the development and doing necessary changes in real time,” Gopichand said on the role of technology in this programme.

<img alt="Gopichand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6c2057ce-beaf-4b16-95a4-6e85f4f38f77" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Screen%20Shot%202020-07-22%20at%207.52.14%20AM.jpg" />

The Tata Trusts’ badminton programme on-going across 25 grassroots centres and covers all 8 districts of Mizoram state, is now providing students with online training to keep them engaged and in touch with the sport. In order to keep children in Mizoram excited about the sport, Tata Trusts has partnered with the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy. Gopichand and his team conduct one session every week, along with the coaches from the programme and an exercise and conditioning specialist conducting the remaining sessions. “

Tata Trusts were already working in Mizoram for different things and that’s when the Mizoram government approached us to do something on badminton. We don’t have any technical knowledge about badminton so to design a programme we got in touch with Pullela Gopichand. We invited him to see the talent in Mizoram and after witnessing it, he came on board as a technical partner. Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy is our technical partner. We designed the entire programme as to how to approach minute of details for this and Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy is taking care of skill training of not only players but giving tips to our coaches as well,” Neelam Babardesai - Head, Tata Trusts Sports Initiative told WION.

Currently the initiative is split into two: grassroots development and high performance. The selection of kids for the grassroots centers is simply based on interest and keenness towards learning the sport. The selection process for the high performance programme (Regional Development Centers) is strictly based on talent and performance. Prospective candidates' performance in State/district tournaments is taken into consideration and also their rankings as per the Mizoram Badminton Association. As of 2019-20, the initiative has had 1862 beneficiaries who are between 8 and 15 years.

<img alt="Ponty" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7c74f8d2-7a67-4b61-b1af-0813d2b97b1c" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Ponty%20%281%29.jpg" />

“The grassroot plan is mainly focused on the basics of the game, like holding a racquet to players’ movement on the court. Whereas the high-performance plan is for bit polished players and we help them with their strength training and more advanced details of the sport,” Ponty Lalramtluangi, Coach at Regional Development Centers under Badminton Initiative Mizoram(BIM) told WION.&nbsp;

“For the competitive layer, players come down to our community centers for trials which are also attended by coaches from Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy and that is how the selection is made. For grassroot layer, it is more about looking at the keenness of a youngster and how passionate he or she is about the sport. We are already overloaded in the grassroot part of our training, which also shows the passion Mizoram as a state has for badminton,” Ponty added.&nbsp;

The infrastructure and facilities currently under use are multipurpose indoor community halls which also double up as Badminton courts. The programme is run in 40 such functional centers as of now. Tata Trusts has planned to construct a “Center of Excellence” close to the state capital for which the Mizoram Government has provided us with 10 acres (approx.) of land on lease for 50 years.

The Siphir community has given the land for the construction of the Centre of Excellence, free of cost, and the Mizoram Government will be preparing the site and developing the basic facilities for the same. Financial and operational independence is also an important goal for the programme, with the objective being to make the initiative self-sustaining through funds collected as fees from trainees and from resources generated by the training centre.

The mental strength of a player in any sport plays a massive role and the partnership between the Tata Trusts and Gopichand Badminton Academy is focusing to tick every box that is needed for a modern-day player to continue their development, on and off the court.&nbsp;

<img alt="Ponty" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="63903b6b-a83e-4fa4-8877-fd8391c5aa5c" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Ponty%20%282%29.jpg" />

“We always wanted to focus on mental aspect of the game. Tata Trusts’ have always focused on the mental aspect of the game but moreover, with the kind of infrastructure we have in place and are looking to produce, I am sure we will give the players everything they need to improve. Be it improvement in mental strength, nutrition, game-plan or any other thing. And I am sure, we will be able to live up to the expectations we have with his programme,” Gopichand said. &nbsp;

“We are looking at the holistic development of children and not just development for the sake of it. There will be many players who will not make the cut to the national or international level but as we know, sport can help a person develop life skills as well, and that is what we are focusing on to providing lifetime skills,” Neelam concluded. &nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Badminton has witnessed an unprecedented rise in India with stars like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, N Sikki Reddy among many others leaving their massive impact to the world of shuttle and racquet.

Badminton has witnessed an unprecedented rise in India with stars like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, N Sikki Reddy among many others leaving their massive impact to the world of shuttle and racquet. And much credit for the rise and success of badminton stars in India has to go to Padma Bhushan awardee Pullela Gopichand. While the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad has done wonders for the rising and established stars in the world of badminton, the state-of-art academy continues its partnership with Tata Trusts’ badminton programme in the state of Mizoram as they look to unearth and polish new talent while also giving a platform for better players to continue taking giant strides to improve their game. “When I first went to Mizoram, my thinking was that it won’t have passion for badminton. But what I saw there made me so happy because every community had a center with a badminton court. Players used to gather in evening to play and that bonding and passion which I saw within the players made me happy. There are around 840 players playing badminton regularly in grassroot community centers and after witnessing their talents, I am sure there will be many players from Mizoram who will go on to make it big,” Pullela Gopichand told WION in an exclusive interaction. Sporting action came to a halt globally due to COVID-19 pandemic that forced many camps to shut down. As playing fields remained empty for months, awareness around the importance of fitness and immunity for health despite the social distancing, has only increased. The impact on children and young adults is especially greater as sports and gaming activities provide opportunities to engage and socialize and help with overall development of an individual in society. In order to stay connected and for aspirational athletes to continue their training, it is important to look at alternate methods during this forced break because of the pandemic. “We were looking at video to connect to coaches and players but we weren’t sure when we would be able to go ahead with it. In this time of pandemic, that process was fastracked in this time and we were able to connect with coaches and players while monitoring the development and doing necessary changes in real time,” Gopichand said on the role of technology in this programme. The Tata Trusts’ badminton programme on-going across 25 grassroots centres and covers all 8 districts of Mizoram state, is now providing students with online training to keep them engaged and in touch with the sport. In order to keep children in Mizoram excited about the sport, Tata Trusts has partnered with the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy. Gopichand and his team conduct one session every week, along with the coaches from the programme and an exercise and conditioning specialist conducting the remaining sessions. “ Tata Trusts were already working in Mizoram for different things and that’s when the Mizoram government approached us to do something on badminton. We don’t have any technical knowledge about badminton so to design a programme we got in touch with Pullela Gopichand. We invited him to see the talent in Mizoram and after witnessing it, he came on board as a technical partner. Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy is our technical partner. We designed the entire programme as to how to approach minute of details for this and Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy is taking care of skill training of not only players but giving tips to our coaches as well,” Neelam Babardesai - Head, Tata Trusts Sports Initiative told WION. Currently the initiative is split into two: grassroots development and high performance. The selection of kids for the grassroots centers is simply based on interest and keenness towards learning the sport. The selection process for the high performance programme (Regional Development Centers) is strictly based on talent and performance. Prospective candidates' performance in State/district tournaments is taken into consideration and also their rankings as per the Mizoram Badminton Association. As of 2019-20, the initiative has had 1862 beneficiaries who are between 8 and 15 years. “The grassroot plan is mainly focused on the basics of the game, like holding a racquet to players’ movement on the court. Whereas the high-performance plan is for bit polished players and we help them with their strength training and more advanced details of the sport,” Ponty Lalramtluangi, Coach at Regional Development Centers under Badminton Initiative Mizoram(BIM) told WION. “For the competitive layer, players come down to our community centers for trials which are also attended by coaches from Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy and that is how the selection is made. For grassroot layer, it is more about looking at the keenness of a youngster and how passionate he or she is about the sport. We are already overloaded in the grassroot part of our training, which also shows the passion Mizoram as a state has for badminton,” Ponty added. The infrastructure and facilities currently under use are multipurpose indoor community halls which also double up as Badminton courts. The programme is run in 40 such functional centers as of now. Tata Trusts has planned to construct a “Center of Excellence” close to the state capital for which the Mizoram Government has provided us with 10 acres (approx.) of land on lease for 50 years. The Siphir community has given the land for the construction of the Centre of Excellence, free of cost, and the Mizoram Government will be preparing the site and developing the basic facilities for the same. Financial and operational independence is also an important goal for the programme, with the objective being to make the initiative self-sustaining through funds collected as fees from trainees and from resources generated by the training centre. The mental strength of a player in any sport plays a massive role and the partnership between the Tata Trusts and Gopichand Badminton Academy is focusing to tick every box that is needed for a modern-day player to continue their development, on and off the court. “We always wanted to focus on mental aspect of the game. Tata Trusts’ have always focused on the mental aspect of the game but moreover, with the kind of infrastructure we have in place and are looking to produce, I am sure we will give the players everything they need to improve. Be it improvement in mental strength, nutrition, game-plan or any other thing. And I am sure, we will be able to live up to the expectations we have with his programme,” Gopichand said. “We are looking at the holistic development of children and not just development for the sake of it. There will be many players who will not make the cut to the national or international level but as we know, sport can help a person develop life skills as well, and that is what we are focusing on to providing lifetime skills,” Neelam concluded.

Pullela Gopichand: Mizoram has potential to produce future batch of badminton stars

Badminton is one of the sports to be hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has cancelled a host of events like the Australian Open, Thailand Open 2020, Indonesia Open 2020, Russian Open 2020, among others. There's even&nbsp;major uncertainty on the qualification scenario for the Tokyo Olympics when it comes to badminton, which was postponed to 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, the athletes have been restricted to train indoors in a bid to stay fit whenever the sporting action resumes.

The Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton team, the only Indian sportsperson to win both Khel Ratna and Dronacharya award, Pullela Gopichand, in an exclusive interview with WION’s Sports Editor, Digvijay Singh Deo, spoke on a lot of topics ranging from the importance of remaining physically and mentally fit during lockdown, being friends with technology to keep up the training regimes, the postponed Olympics, idea of quarantine facility for Olympic hopefuls and much more...

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&nbsp;

Digvijay Singh Deo: Now Gopi is usually a very busy man and I have once had to wake up at 5:30 am to interview him. But for this interview, we both had to coordinate the online class timings of our sons. Must say online classes are a boon during these thought times...

<o:p></o:p>

Gopichand:&nbsp;The online classes keep the kids busy, otherwise they would be a quite tough to handle in these times

DSD: The family must be pretty surprised to see you at home Gopi all this while. Your day starts and ends at the academy mostly in normal times...

Gopichand: Surprisingly, it's not been bad till now, I've enjoyed my stay at home. I returned from the UK on the 15th of March, which was a very sensitive time. I put myself in quarantine for two weeks even though it wasn't mandatory for me at that time. My wife and kids only joined me last week. So overall, I've enjoyed my time at home. My parents are staying at my house in Hyderabad since it is more important for them to be safe, and I've come to the farmhouse along with my wife and kids.

DSD: What’s happening with your academies?&nbsp;They are pretty big and is any anyone looking after the basic maintenance?

Gopichand: Only a skeletal housekeeping staff is operating at the academy now since we've been closed for a month.

DSD: There were a few players who decided to opt-out of the All England and they left the academy and returned home after some cases were reported in the vicinity...

Gopichand: I think that period in early March, people were sceptical about travelling anywhere in the world because the disease had started to spread in the UK. It was already a crisis in Italy, so players were a bit apprehensive of going for the tournament. With health and safety being a priority, the players decided it would be best for them to skip the all England championship.

<img alt="Pulella Gopichand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="43524156-9acc-4824-962a-e3c28eb13dbb" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/000_Hkg10096807.jpg" />

DSD:&nbsp;In hindsight do you think all of you took a huge risk in travelling to Birmingham for the All England Championships?&nbsp;It is a very prestigious championship and one of your most memorable triumphs as well. 
&nbsp; 
Gopichand: I was clear I didn't want to go, nor did I want the players to travel.but it was the players' choice which prevailed and I obviously had to go with them. I didn't have an option. My initial plan was not to go, but at the last moment our Korean coach Park Tae Sang wasn't able to travel due to some restrictions and some members of the support staff also dropped out. So it became mandatory for me to travel with the team. I think conducting the All England Championship was a huge risk. I was of that opinion before the tournament as well and still hold the same view. I did advise some players like HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma against travelling for the tournament since it would not greatly affect their world rankings or Olympic qualification chances.from an organisational point of view, I do believe that the tournament should not have taken place

DSD: You are a hard taskmaster so have you got some kind of online classes going for the players...

Gopichand: We are using online platforms to have fitness sessions for all our players. There is a trainer who holds the morning session and there is a strength and conditioning session in the evening as well. We are roughly managing to do about 11 sessions in a week. Of course, it's not the same as being out on the court, but we have to make to with what we have. We have to keep ourselves in good shape physically and mentally during the lockdown. 
&nbsp; 
DSD: How essential is it not to lose your fitness during this period Gopi?&nbsp;Badminton is an extremely gruelling sport and if you are not&nbsp;hundred per cent it sort of shows on the court. 
&nbsp; 
Gopichand: Staying fit is of paramount importance during these times, any players who fail to maintain his or her physical fitness during the lockdown is going to suffer.players often have injuries, when they are not able to do much, but they are still able to do their mental training, visualisation and a little bit of strengthening. Some of these things do not require much space, what you need is a yearning to learn. In terms of the badminton calendar, we don't know what the scenario is or what it will be after in six months or a year. All we can do is that ensure the players are in good physical shape whenever it starts. I've always maintained this mantra, that the 'process is the goal'. So, even during the lockdown, the players must prepare and be ready for the next tournament whenever that may be.

DSD: Do you have any sort of an indication as to when the calendar will resume? As things stand even October 2020 seems a stretch especially with long term travel restrictions in place. 
&nbsp; 
Gopichand:&nbsp;We can speculate all we want, but I would rather focus on being prepared for whenever tournaments return. The players have to keep busy during the lockdown and train hard every day in whatever capacity they can, that's all we can do at the moment. Action could return in October 2020, or in October 2021, its just speculation at the moment. With or without the lockdown, the process should be the goal. Athletes have to keep themselves motivated and push themselves day in and day out, with whatever resources they have.

<img alt="Pulella Gopichand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="64c5e6aa-0120-45c3-9eeb-53add128c843" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/000_UQ6U5.jpg" /> 
&nbsp; 
DSD: At some point, the global calendar will resume but will it fair, I have heard that in a few countries where the virus has been contained practice is on like China and Chinese Taipei and those players will be the main rivals for our players. 
&nbsp; 
Gopichand:&nbsp;Sport has never been fair. It is the best of what an athlete can make of whatever circumstances he or she has been given and the players who have the best facilities available to them don't always win. The scenario is also not as bad as some people might think. Right now tournaments have been suspended till July. But if BWF were to announce that tournaments would resume after that, there would be at least a two month notice period for all the players, since the various arrangements would have to be made for travel, accommodation and training. So I think that time is sufficient for players to prepare if their physical fitness has not deteriorated during the lockdown. 
&nbsp; 
DSD: Let’s get to the Olympics now and the way things were shaping up would you consider it a positive thing for Indian badminton considering we were probably going to have just 2 entries had the games gone ahead as per schedule. 
&nbsp; 
Gopichand:&nbsp;Yes, I think most coaches would have agreed to postpone the games for a year. Last year was extremely hectic and players were hardly getting any time to train, and only a small part of the qualification period was left. Now with the whole year available to the players, it is a good time for them to rest, train and get back. 
&nbsp; 
DSD: I must say that I found the BWF leadership during the crisis extremely shoddy. The Olympic qualifying process is sacrosanct and it is four years of toil for a player. I do not think they were being fair by denying opportunities to players with so many cancellations happening. What do you think? 
&nbsp; 
Gopichand:&nbsp;The Olympic qualification period was ending in April, and tournaments had been suspended from the second week of March. So there were about eight weeks to go for the qualification period the BWF still hasn't announced the new qualification norms. I would want to see them consider the 44 weeks of the qualification period that had been completed&nbsp;since all the players and coaches assumed that those would form apart of the qualifiers. The rest of the eight weeks that were left should be adjusted, so whatever tournaments that have been lost should take place either next year in March and April or sometime this year. Every tournament that was suspended should be replaced with an equally graded tournament. I would believe that the BWF would be planning something like that, so players won't have to pay for the tournament cancellations. 
&nbsp; 
DSD: World Athletics has stopped all Olympic qualifying till December 1. What sort of timelines should the BWF come up with considering that the IOC deadline is June end of 2021? Should there be a 10-tournament swing starting December to decide on the Olympic berths perhaps?

Gopichand: I believe that the 44 weeks of the Olympic qualification period that has been completed, should be frozen. In badminton, the Olympic spots are not determined by a particular tournament or event, they are decided by an aggregate number of points. In that kind of scenario, it makes sense to retain he ranking for the already-completed period, and the remaining tournaments that were part of the qualifiers can take place in the same months next year.one of the dangers of this lockdown is that the players who are in a comfortable position to qualify at the moment, might get complacent and not train enough.

So because their slot is all but confirmed, those players might not perform at the highest level at the tournaments. I think whatever new qualification norms the BWF announces, it is bound to be criticised by various nations because those countries will look at the process from their own perspective with regards to how the norms will benefit their players' chances of qualification. But I think it is fair to give time to the BWF to decide on the new norms.

<img alt="Pulella Gopichand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1330ddee-0e25-4659-a629-5d81ecc60aa9" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/000_1JT00O.jpg" /> 
&nbsp; 
DSD: Do you also have to recalibrate your approach that has worked so well in the last. Ahead of an Olympics you usually work intensely for two to three months with the players. And it has paid off in London 2012 and Rio 2016. I am not sure you will get that much time for 2021 especially if the qualifying race gets tight. 
&nbsp; 
Gopichand: I think the situation is different when compared to the 2008, 2012 or 2016 Olympics, the players are at a different level. We have foreign coaches and specialised event coaches as part of our support staff. So this time my role will be different. I will look at things more closely when the tournament schedule is out and decide on the best plan for each player. 
&nbsp; 
DSD: Abhinav Bindra told me a few weeks back that the experienced players will cope with this delay better than the younger ones. For example, this works out very well for Kento Momota who was recovering from that car accident in Malaysia.&nbsp;Is it time for the best minds in Indian sport to get together and chart out a collective way forward. Every sport is currently in its own cocoon but I think when it comes to the mental approach you can learn from shooting, perhaps hockey can be able to share more tips about fitness. Since the Sports Authority of India pays most salaries the ministry can get everyone together for a two to three-day summit. Can that work?

Gopichand: I think the next few months will be very critical. Right now the lockdown is till may 3rd, but it could very well be extended. Our athletes might not get tournament exposure for the next few months at least. It will definitely help if top sporting minds come together to work out a plan that will benefit all Indian athletes. It might even be a good idea to look at a quarantine facility for Olympic hopefuls from all sports. For example, since inter-city travel is not possible, athletes from the same city can stay at a facility which allows them to train for the upcoming events. We might also have to plan for domestic leagues and tournaments because restrictions in India could be lifted before those of other countries. &nbsp;Since global tournaments would not be taking place, there will be a need to replace those with quality domestic competitions to make up for the loss of international exposure.

We are going through an unprecedented crisis, so adjustments need to be made. For example, I had never used a mobile phone application for training, but we are forced to do that now and that has become the norm. So we are looking at different ways to help the players enhance their skills during this lockdown. Adaptability is the key, we have to make quick decisions and think out of the box 
&nbsp;

Badminton is one of the sports to be hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has cancelled a host of events like the Australian Open, Thailand Open 2020, Indonesia Open 2020, Russian Open 2020, among others.

Badminton is one of the sports to be hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has cancelled a host of events like the Australian Open, Thailand Open 2020, Indonesia Open 2020, Russian Open 2020, among others. There's even major uncertainty on the qualification scenario for the Tokyo Olympics when it comes to badminton, which was postponed to 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, the athletes have been restricted to train indoors in a bid to stay fit whenever the sporting action resumes. The Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton team, the only Indian sportsperson to win both Khel Ratna and Dronacharya award, Pullela Gopichand, in an exclusive interview with WION’s Sports Editor, Digvijay Singh Deo, spoke on a lot of topics ranging from the importance of remaining physically and mentally fit during lockdown, being friends with technology to keep up the training regimes, the postponed Olympics, idea of quarantine facility for Olympic hopefuls and much more... × Digvijay Singh Deo: Now Gopi is usually a very busy man and I have once had to wake up at 5:30 am to interview him. But for this interview, we both had to coordinate the online class timings of our sons. Must say online classes are a boon during these thought times... Gopichand: The online classes keep the kids busy, otherwise they would be a quite tough to handle in these times DSD: The family must be pretty surprised to see you at home Gopi all this while. Your day starts and ends at the academy mostly in normal times... Gopichand: Surprisingly, it's not been bad till now, I've enjoyed my stay at home. I returned from the UK on the 15th of March, which was a very sensitive time. I put myself in quarantine for two weeks even though it wasn't mandatory for me at that time. My wife and kids only joined me last week. So overall, I've enjoyed my time at home. My parents are staying at my house in Hyderabad since it is more important for them to be safe, and I've come to the farmhouse along with my wife and kids. DSD: What’s happening with your academies? They are pretty big and is any anyone looking after the basic maintenance? Gopichand: Only a skeletal housekeeping staff is operating at the academy now since we've been closed for a month. DSD: There were a few players who decided to opt-out of the All England and they left the academy and returned home after some cases were reported in the vicinity... Gopichand: I think that period in early March, people were sceptical about travelling anywhere in the world because the disease had started to spread in the UK. It was already a crisis in Italy, so players were a bit apprehensive of going for the tournament. With health and safety being a priority, the players decided it would be best for them to skip the all England championship. DSD: In hindsight do you think all of you took a huge risk in travelling to Birmingham for the All England Championships? It is a very prestigious championship and one of your most memorable triumphs as well. Gopichand: I was clear I didn't want to go, nor did I want the players to travel.but it was the players' choice which prevailed and I obviously had to go with them. I didn't have an option. My initial plan was not to go, but at the last moment our Korean coach Park Tae Sang wasn't able to travel due to some restrictions and some members of the support staff also dropped out. So it became mandatory for me to travel with the team. I think conducting the All England Championship was a huge risk. I was of that opinion before the tournament as well and still hold the same view. I did advise some players like HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma against travelling for the tournament since it would not greatly affect their world rankings or Olympic qualification chances.from an organisational point of view, I do believe that the tournament should not have taken place DSD: You are a hard taskmaster so have you got some kind of online classes going for the players... Gopichand: We are using online platforms to have fitness sessions for all our players. There is a trainer who holds the morning session and there is a strength and conditioning session in the evening as well. We are roughly managing to do about 11 sessions in a week. Of course, it's not the same as being out on the court, but we have to make to with what we have. We have to keep ourselves in good shape physically and mentally during the lockdown. DSD: How essential is it not to lose your fitness during this period Gopi? Badminton is an extremely gruelling sport and if you are not hundred per cent it sort of shows on the court. Gopichand: Staying fit is of paramount importance during these times, any players who fail to maintain his or her physical fitness during the lockdown is going to suffer.players often have injuries, when they are not able to do much, but they are still able to do their mental training, visualisation and a little bit of strengthening. Some of these things do not require much space, what you need is a yearning to learn. In terms of the badminton calendar, we don't know what the scenario is or what it will be after in six months or a year. All we can do is that ensure the players are in good physical shape whenever it starts. I've always maintained this mantra, that the 'process is the goal'. So, even during the lockdown, the players must prepare and be ready for the next tournament whenever that may be. DSD: Do you have any sort of an indication as to when the calendar will resume? As things stand even October 2020 seems a stretch especially with long term travel restrictions in place. Gopichand: We can speculate all we want, but I would rather focus on being prepared for whenever tournaments return. The players have to keep busy during the lockdown and train hard every day in whatever capacity they can, that's all we can do at the moment. Action could return in October 2020, or in October 2021, its just speculation at the moment. With or without the lockdown, the process should be the goal. Athletes have to keep themselves motivated and push themselves day in and day out, with whatever resources they have. DSD: At some point, the global calendar will resume but will it fair, I have heard that in a few countries where the virus has been contained practice is on like China and Chinese Taipei and those players will be the main rivals for our players. Gopichand: Sport has never been fair. It is the best of what an athlete can make of whatever circumstances he or she has been given and the players who have the best facilities available to them don't always win. The scenario is also not as bad as some people might think. Right now tournaments have been suspended till July. But if BWF were to announce that tournaments would resume after that, there would be at least a two month notice period for all the players, since the various arrangements would have to be made for travel, accommodation and training. So I think that time is sufficient for players to prepare if their physical fitness has not deteriorated during the lockdown. DSD: Let’s get to the Olympics now and the way things were shaping up would you consider it a positive thing for Indian badminton considering we were probably going to have just 2 entries had the games gone ahead as per schedule. Gopichand: Yes, I think most coaches would have agreed to postpone the games for a year. Last year was extremely hectic and players were hardly getting any time to train, and only a small part of the qualification period was left. Now with the whole year available to the players, it is a good time for them to rest, train and get back. DSD: I must say that I found the BWF leadership during the crisis extremely shoddy. The Olympic qualifying process is sacrosanct and it is four years of toil for a player. I do not think they were being fair by denying opportunities to players with so many cancellations happening. What do you think? Gopichand: The Olympic qualification period was ending in April, and tournaments had been suspended from the second week of March. So there were about eight weeks to go for the qualification period the BWF still hasn't announced the new qualification norms. I would want to see them consider the 44 weeks of the qualification period that had been completed since all the players and coaches assumed that those would form apart of the qualifiers. The rest of the eight weeks that were left should be adjusted, so whatever tournaments that have been lost should take place either next year in March and April or sometime this year. Every tournament that was suspended should be replaced with an equally graded tournament. I would believe that the BWF would be planning something like that, so players won't have to pay for the tournament cancellations. DSD: World Athletics has stopped all Olympic qualifying till December 1. What sort of timelines should the BWF come up with considering that the IOC deadline is June end of 2021? Should there be a 10-tournament swing starting December to decide on the Olympic berths perhaps? Gopichand: I believe that the 44 weeks of the Olympic qualification period that has been completed, should be frozen. In badminton, the Olympic spots are not determined by a particular tournament or event, they are decided by an aggregate number of points. In that kind of scenario, it makes sense to retain he ranking for the already-completed period, and the remaining tournaments that were part of the qualifiers can take place in the same months next year.one of the dangers of this lockdown is that the players who are in a comfortable position to qualify at the moment, might get complacent and not train enough. So because their slot is all but confirmed, those players might not perform at the highest level at the tournaments. I think whatever new qualification norms the BWF announces, it is bound to be criticised by various nations because those countries will look at the process from their own perspective with regards to how the norms will benefit their players' chances of qualification. But I think it is fair to give time to the BWF to decide on the new norms. DSD: Do you also have to recalibrate your approach that has worked so well in the last. Ahead of an Olympics you usually work intensely for two to three months with the players. And it has paid off in London 2012 and Rio 2016. I am not sure you will get that much time for 2021 especially if the qualifying race gets tight. Gopichand: I think the situation is different when compared to the 2008, 2012 or 2016 Olympics, the players are at a different level. We have foreign coaches and specialised event coaches as part of our support staff. So this time my role will be different. I will look at things more closely when the tournament schedule is out and decide on the best plan for each player. DSD: Abhinav Bindra told me a few weeks back that the experienced players will cope with this delay better than the younger ones. For example, this works out very well for Kento Momota who was recovering from that car accident in Malaysia. Is it time for the best minds in Indian sport to get together and chart out a collective way forward. Every sport is currently in its own cocoon but I think when it comes to the mental approach you can learn from shooting, perhaps hockey can be able to share more tips about fitness. Since the Sports Authority of India pays most salaries the ministry can get everyone together for a two to three-day summit. Can that work? Gopichand: I think the next few months will be very critical. Right now the lockdown is till may 3rd, but it could very well be extended. Our athletes might not get tournament exposure for the next few months at least. It will definitely help if top sporting minds come together to work out a plan that will benefit all Indian athletes. It might even be a good idea to look at a quarantine facility for Olympic hopefuls from all sports. For example, since inter-city travel is not possible, athletes from the same city can stay at a facility which allows them to train for the upcoming events. We might also have to plan for domestic leagues and tournaments because restrictions in India could be lifted before those of other countries. Since global tournaments would not be taking place, there will be a need to replace those with quality domestic competitions to make up for the loss of international exposure. We are going through an unprecedented crisis, so adjustments need to be made. For example, I had never used a mobile phone application for training, but we are forced to do that now and that has become the norm. So we are looking at different ways to help the players enhance their skills during this lockdown. Adaptability is the key, we have to make quick decisions and think out of the box

Exclusive: 'Might be a good idea to look at quarantine facility for Olympic hopefuls' - Pullela Gopichand opens up on  postponed Games and more

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Exclusive: 'Might be a good idea to look at quarantine facility for Olympic hopefuls' - Pullela Gopichand opens up on postponed Games and more