Agencies
Rio de Janeiro, August 20: ‘Discipline’ has been the platform for Pullela Gopichand’s success as a coach and there is no better example of it than PV Sindhu who finished with the silver medal at the Rio Olympics. The shuttler has learned it the hard way starting from her formative years with her guru.
In pursuit of excellence, there are little pleasures of life that needs to be sacrificed and from Saina Nehwal to Sindhu, the former All England champion’s theory has never changed.
But that Gopichand became indulgent after his ward’s stupendous feat here Friday.
“Sindhu did not have her phone during the last three months. The first thing is I would return her phone so that she can get in touch with everyone. The second thing, after coming here for last 12-13 days, I had deprived her from having sweet curd which she likes most. I also stopped her from eating ice-cream. Now she can eat whatever she wants,” an elated Gopi stated.
Such is Gopi’s fashion that like his ward, Gopi also pursued a carbohydrate-free diet for the last three months. “I wanted to be as fit as my student,” stated the 42-year-old Gopi. “I saw to it that she played matches with me every day to build up her strength and stamina. I knew that if she played with me, her standard will improve,” informed the Sydney Olympics quarterfinalists.
Gopi hailed Sindhu’s work ethic during the lead up to the Olympics. “She has had a great last week. The kind of work she has put in the last two months is tremendous. The kind of sacrifices she has made without complaining is fantastic. She deserves the medal and I’m truly very happy.”
Gopi also asserted that at 21 years, Sindhu’s journey has just begun and that she will bring many more laurels to the country. He also said that he had asked Sindhu to enjoy her silver rather than lament about the fact of not winning gold.
“I told her don’t think that you lost it. Remember that we have won a medal. I wanted to tell her this to ensure that she does not forget the efforts that she put in to come to second place on the podium. I wanted her to forget her loss and enjoy the time she spent on the podium. It was important,” asserted the usually reticent Gopi.
Coming into the tournament as World No. 10, the 13th seed Sindhu put on a giant-killing act. Sindhu first beat World No. 8 Tzu Ying Tai in the pre-quarters, World No. 2 Wang Yihan in the last eight and in the semis she breezed past World No. 6 Nozomi Okuhara to assure India their first silver here.
“To generate that kind of energy going requires something special. She’s been fantastic in all the four matches. There’s however, no denying the fact that (Carolina) Marin was better on the day,” pointed out Gopichand.
Huge windfall in store for India’s medal winners
When Pusarla Venkata Sindhu won a gold medal at the 2012 Asian junior badminton championships, her cricketing hero Sachin Tendulkar presented her with a car.
One can only guess at the reception the 21-year-old player will receive when she returns into the arms of 1.3 billion Indians after becoming the country’s most successful female Olympian with her silver-medal performance in Rio. Yes all other Indian women medalists have got bronze only with the Hyderabadi shuttler going a step forward.
The same thing can be said of India’s only other medal winner at the Rio Games – wrestler Sakshi Malik who won bronze in the 58kg category.
The Delhi government announced Friday rupees two crore cash reward to Sindhu and rupees one crore to Sakshi.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia visited the parents of Sakshi in Rohtak in the morning and announced the award for both Olympians. He also offered promotion for Sakshi’s father, Sukhbir Malik, who works as a bus conductor in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).
Meanwhile the All India Football Federation (AIFF) declared that the association will give a cash award of `5,00,000 each to both Sindhu and Sakshi.
“AIFF expresses it’s support & solidarity with the sporting fraternity for doing India proud. We award `5,00,000 lakh each to Sindhu and Sakshi,” AIFF president Praful Patel wrote on his personal twitter handle. “They make us proud. Their achievements inspire the entire nation,” Patel added.
In another development, BPCL announced an award of `75 lakh for Sindhu who is an employee of the organisation. Sindhu has been working with BPCL since 2013. Currently an assistant manager (Sports) in the organisation’s Hyderabad office, Sindhu will be promoted to the post of deputy manager.
Amounts of rupees three crore and five crore were announced by the Andhra and Telengana governments. The Andhra government also decided to award `50 lakh to Pullela Gopichand who has been the man instrumental behind Sindhu’s success.