Why Gopichand turned to badminton administration | Badminton News – Times of India

PUNE: Pullela Gopichand likes to juggle many hats. And he does it well. The recently -elected vice president of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) feels his new role, along with holding the chief national coach’s position, will give him a chance to fill in the gap between players and administrators.
“Badminton as a sport has grown quite widely and I think it is good to see the kind of depth that we have today. Administration of the sport is very important, and I am glad BAI president Mr Himanta Biswa Sarma wanted me to help and support,” Gopichand, who was in Pune to attend the Meet the Champion programme organised by Gera Developers on Saturday. “To have a connection between the players, coaches and the admin is important. Sometimes this connecting thread is missed. I hope I can be that thread.”
BAI recently announced team members for the Commonwealth Games and Thomas & Uber Cup. It also features his daughter Gayatri in the women’s doubles event with Treesa Jolly.
Does Gopi get involved in Gayatri’s training?
“We have coaches in charge of individual events and each one does their job, so I don’t have to get involved. But I am glad that she is part of the team, they won all their matches to qualify for the team. Also good to see that they reached the semis of the All England,” Gopi said.
Badminton in India has faced the perpetual issue of age fudging. A lot has been done to curb the menace, but Gopichand feels there is a lot to be done.
“It is a nuisance that needs to be curbed. Having said that, if we have been able to completely control it? I don’t know. Medical tests cannot give you conclusive results, judiciary is involved, and people get stay orders from court and you can’t do anything. So, it is a much more complex issue.
He feels change in the policies and stricter punishments can improve the situation. “In general, we need to come up with certain policies wherever parents/players are known to do it deliberately, it is important to have a hefty punishment because they are spoiling generations of players and I think that is not accepted.”