Jwala Gutta slams Pullela Gopichand for neglecting her

07/16/2017

Indian badminton star Jwala Gutta has lashed out at Pullela Gopichand, saying she deserved to be treated better for the numerous titles she has won for the country. The 33-year old also stated that the reason behind the success of singles players is the support they get, which was unlike her case.

Jwala Gutta has been a familiar name when it comes to the Indian badminton fraternity, having won numerous tournaments in the women's doubles category, such as the historic gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010 and a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2011.

She also competed at the London 2012 Olympics in the women's doubles as well as the mixed doubles category and became the only Indian player in the history of the game to qualify for both the events. The 33-year old went on to win a bronze medal in the Asian Championships in 2014 and managed an entry into the top ten of both women's and mixed doubles category, making her the only player to achieve the feat.

However, since then, Gutta has largely been absent from the Indian contingent in major tournaments around the world and lashed out at Pullela Gopichand for neglecting her.

Time and again, I was thrown out of the national camp which was unnecessary. First of all, we don’t have any doubles pair, I’m the national champ since 2000-01, and you are troubling me. I was never given any explanation. I kept proving myself by winning tournaments, winning matches. Doubles is completely different. It needs different attention. Singles is doing better because they are getting all the support in the world," Gutta said, as reported by Indian Express.

“For the past 1-2 months, I’m hearing about how doubles is coming up because they’ve won International Challenges, I’ve set such a high benchmark, so what are you trying to say; basically dushmanisirf mere sethi? (enmity was just with me?) I just needed encouragement, I never asked for money or awards. I’m your No 1 player, you can’t trouble me," she added.

The 33-year old expressed her disappointment at the treatment she had received and stated she had been let down by Gopichand.

“Irritating nahi, I wouldn’t say irritating. He just let me down. When he won All England, I don’t think anyone else was as happy as me or Arif Sir. We were playmates, we used to practice and train together. We looked up to him. When he came back from winning All England I went to the airport. I was amongst that crowd, and we were crying because we were the happiest.”

“We thought now he will encourage us, now he will give us what he probably did not have. You know how emotional the crowds are when we go to receive sportspeople. I was there standing in crowd with everybody," she added.

Jwala Gutta slams Pullela Gopichand for neglecting her

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