Sanjay Sharma - Pullela Gopichand

Sanjay Sharma

and

Shachi S. Sharma

Foreword by

Saina Nehwal

First published in 2011 by
Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj
New Delhi 110002

Sales centres:
Allahabad Bengaluru Chennai
Hyderabad Jaipur Kathmandu
Kolkata Mumbai

Copyright Sanjay Sharma Shachi S. Sharma 2011
Cover design:

The views and opinions expressed in this book are the authors own and the facts are as reported by him/her which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

This digital edition published in 2012

e-ISBN: 978-81-291-2169-1

Sanjay Sharma and Shachi S. Sharma assert the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved.

This e-book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publishers prior consent, in any form or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, print reproduction, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Any unauthorized distribution of this e-book may be considered a direct infringement of copyright and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

To my late father Ram Sharan Sharma. I have not known a

more courageous, hardworking and optimistic person than him.

To my mother Rani Sharma, who gave me life.

To my wife Deepti, who gave meaning to my life.

To my two lovely daughters Medini and Shachi they are the

treasures of mylife

have known Gopi sir ever since I started my coaching under him. He is a unique personality, totally dedicated to badminton, and all he thinks of is how his students and Indian badminton can get better. It is his dream that one day our players will defeat the very best in the world and bring laurels to the country. I have personally learnt so many things from him, and my constant interaction with him has made me evolve into a better person and more mature player.

His life in the game has not been an easy one. Beset with many serious injuries and surgeries from the tender age of nineteen years, he not only overcame all these obstacles, but went on to win the greatest championships of all the 2001 All England singles crown. Gopi sir has given a new meaning to the famous adage When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

I am indeed very happy that his biography is being published. This remarkable story will teach all of us the one main thing in life dont ever quit from the task at hand. Dont stop dreaming. If you have the confidence in yourself and discipline, no goal is impossible to achieve. Pullela Gopi Chand had a dream and he went on to achieve it. This is a story for all of us, not just the badminton fraternity. It is a story of human triumph against major odds.

Gopi sir is a major icon of young India. If the youth can emulate even a fraction of what he achieved, of what he is in real life, we will become a better people.

15 June 2011 Saina Nehwal

Hyderabad

t would have been very difficult to write this story without the active support of Pullela Gopi Chands parents Subhash and Subbaravamma, specially his mother, who gave us many hours of dedicated time for research. Our sincere thanks to them. We would also like to thank: LV Subrahmanyam, another helpful person who threw light on many aspects of Gopi, and who stood like a rock behind us to ensure publication of Gopis story. All the players who spoke to us, as well as Maqdoom Ahmed at the Gopi Chand Academy who willingly shared lot of information on Gopi. PV Lakshmi, the former Olympian and national champion, who married Gopi only to find out that badminton still remains Gopis first love. Former players and badminton icons Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Dipankar Bhattacharya, world-beaters Peter Gade and Taufik Hidayat, Gopis teammates Vijaydeep Singh, Manjusha Kanwar, Asawari Patwardhan, Aparna Popat and many others who made us understand what Gopi is truly like.

We must also mention Gopis close friends Manoj Kumar, Vijay Raghvan and Azam Hussein who willingly gave us lots of time. Prabhakar deserves special mention, as he helped in many ways to give shape to this book. Special thanks to our old friend Leroy DSa, who was present during Gopis All England triumph and who made it sound so dramatic with his keen views and sharp observations. Arif bhai, who coached Gopi for a long time and gave much time to us, Ganguly Prasad who coached Gopi at SAI and brought out for us the incredible hard work Gopi put in under him.

Not to forget badminton queen Saina Nehwal, who not only told us about the great qualities of Gopi as a coach, but was extremely willing to give us a foreword.

And of course Gopi himself, reticent, quiet and introverted most of the time, difficult to track down, but once you sat in front of him with a microphone, he would speak so eloquently about the many myths and facts about himself and the game in general. It was frustrating at times as phone calls and mails went unanswered, but then one had to be patient as he would always be busy on the badminton courts of his academy, teaching Sainas of today and the future.

We must say here that writing a biography on a non-cricketing person in the country may be easy, but getting it published in this cricket-crazy country is a nightmare. That is where Kapish Mehra of Rupa Publications stepped in to guide us first-time authors. He was patient, illuminating and mentored us in the right direction. In Amrita Mukerji we had a helpful editor. She corrected all the mistakes we made, making the book so much more readable. Our thanks also go to Vijay and Farida Mohan Raj, old friends in Hyderabad, for their never-say-die attitude and help in every way and Neelam Saran Gour, a formidable writer in her own right, who encouraged us from the beginning, sharing her experiences with us as an author.

Finally, we would like to thank Clayton Murzello of Mid Day for showing us the right direction from the start. Most importantly, thanks to Gopi Chands fans, and well-wishers, including one special young lady and her family, who have requested anonymity, without whom this biography would not have seen the light of day.

s the shuttle sailed out of the court for the last time in the mens singles finals during the 2001 All England Championships at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, there was a stunned, pin-drop silence in the majestic stadium. But then, as the Indian ace Pullela Gopi Chand raised his fists high and looked towards heaven, thanking the Almighty for finally realising his childhood dream of winning the All England singles title a dream, incidentally, that shuttlers all over the world cherish from the day they hold a racket that silence slowly shattered. Applause rose to a crescendo and reverberated around the stadium, packed with Indian supporters acknowledging and embracing the tall, dark player as the new champion of the world.