Pullela Gopichand is an ex-badminton player and currently serving as the Chief National coach for Indian National Badminton Team. Born on 16 November 1973, Pullela Gopichand was the second Indian, after Prakash Padukone, to win the All-England Open Badminton Championships in the year 2001. On the occasion of their 52nd Convocation, IIT Kanpur awarded him an honorary doctorate.
Pullela Gopichand competed in three Thomas Cup competitions on the international stage for India. At the 1998 Indian National Games in Imphal, he also bagged two gold medals and one silver. He earned a gold medal in the SAARC badminton competition in Vijayawada in 1996, and he successfully defended his title at the following games in Colombo in 1997. He earned bronze in men’s singles and silver in the team competition at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Pullela launched the Gopichand Badminton Academy in 2008 after ending his playing career, apparently mortgaging his own home in the process. He introduced the “Dhyana for Sports” guided meditation sessions for athletes in December 2020 on the Dhyana app.
Biography of Pullela Gopichand
- Real Name: Pullela Gopichand
- Other/Nickname: Gops and Gopi
- Profession: Former Indian Badminton Player and current Coach
- Handedness: Right-handed
- Coach/Mentor: S. M. Arif and Ganguly Prasad
Physical status of Pullela Gopichand
- Height: 1.83m (approx.)
- Weight: 65 Kilogram (approx.)
- Body Measurements: Chest (42 inches), Waist (32 inches), Biceps (12 inches)
- Eye colour : Black
- Hair Colour : Black
Personal life of Pullela Gopichand
- Date of Birth: 16 November 1973
- Place of Birth: Nagandla, Prakasam Andhra Pradesh, India
- Age: 48 Years (As of 2021)
- Nationality: Indian
- Hometown: Hyderabad, India
- School: St Paul’s High School, Hyderabad
- College: A. V. College, Hyderabad
- Highest Educational Qualifications: Graduate in Public Administration
- Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
- Mother Tongue: Hindi
- Favorite Food: Biryani
Pullela Gopichand’s debut
- Debut Match: Against Malaysia in the year 1991
Pullela Gopichand’s Achievements
- Pullela Gopichand earned a gold medal in the SAARC badminton competition in 1996.
- Pullela Gopichand won the Scottish Open, India International, and Le Volant d’Or de Toulouse in 1999.
- Pullela Gopichand also bagged the All-England Open Badminton Championships title in 2001.
- Pullela Gopichand won the 2004 India Asian Satellite competition.
Family details of Pullela Gopichand
- Marital status: Married
- Wife: P.V.V. Lakshmi
- Wife’s Profession: Former badminton player
- Children: Son – Vishnu, Daughter – Gayathri
- Parents: Father – Pullela Subash Chandra, Mother – Subbaravamma
- Siblings: Brother – Rajashekar Gopichand, Sister – Hima Bindu
- Religion: Hinduism
- Other Hobbies: Singing, playing guitar and gardening
Here are some of the lesser-known facts about Pullela Gopichand
- Cricket was Gopichand’s initial love rather than badminton. But his older brother had urged him to pick up the racquet and shuttle.
- Gopichand solicited funding from a number of sources to start his academy. But when he did not receive the desired response, he mortgaged his home and used all of his resources to launch the business.
- The most recent generation of great athletes, including PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, Sai Praneeth, and Srikanth Kidambi, were trained by him at his academy in Hyderabad.
- He came to the realization of the toll such accidents had on a player in 1994 after suffering a severe knee injury. But he recovered from the harm he received in a doubles match.
- Gopichand, 10, and his mother would go great distances on foot and forego using public transportation to save money.
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