PBL 2018 | Players need to take extreme care ahead of Tokyo 2020, asserts Pullela Gopichand

01/14/2019

Pullela Gopichand has stated that the Indian shuttlers need to take extreme care of the injuries ahead of the Olympics to be held in Tokyo next year. He also mentioned that events like PBL are of great help for the growth of the sport in India as it inspires a huge number of people in the country.

India’s chief national badminton coach P Gopichand is having the aim of sending the biggest ever badminton contingent for the next Olympic Games to be played in 2020 in Tokyo. The Indian players will fight through the qualification tournaments to get a ticket for the prestigious games to be played in Japan. Meanwhile, the champion shuttler has warned them to be prepared ahead of the qualifications and has asked the players to take proper care of the fitness and injuries.

“I think it will be a mad rush of players trying to qualify for Olympics. I’ve seen many qualifications go by in the last few years and I do believe that players need to take extreme care about injury prevention. They have to make sure to consistently get performances and at the end of the year, that’s what matters. So it will be a tough year but hopefully we have less injuries and manage well,” Gopichand told the media, reported The Scroll.

Gopichand was present at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru during the PBL final where the home team Bengaluru Raptors won against Mumbai Rockets by 4-2 matches. Gopichand hailed the very concept of the badminton league in India by saying that tournaments like these are helpful for the sport in many ways than one.

“I think it helps at different levels. The players benefit from it — monetarily and experience wise. The players who are part of the team but do not get to play, get to be with the these top players and that’s a big thing in itself, to be part of the team and get tips from the top players. The third thing is even though players are form India, the local people (from other cities) never get to see them. On top of that, they get to see world champions and Olympic champions. The number of people who get inspired by the sport, the number of players who want their kids to play, the general ecosystem for badminton benefits from an event like this,” the acclaimed coach stated.

When asked about Bengaluru skipper Kidambi Srikanth, Gopichand replied, “Well, I think what he has played [in PBL, where he was undefeated] is testimony to the fact that he is capable of beating the best players in the world. Conditions across the world will be different, players will be different and he will have to face players and different challenges and that will be something he will have to do in the big tournaments.”

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PBL 2018 | Players need to take extreme care ahead of Tokyo 2020, asserts Pullela Gopichand

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