If going to Vimal has made this difference, I have no problems: Gopichand
SAINA NEHWAL's move from P Gopichand to her current coach Vimal Kumar had raised many questions about her
relationship with the national coach, and put pressure on the Saina-Vimal pair to deliver results.
Now that Saina has wrested back her top ranking in the badminton world, Gopichand states that he is happy about her performance and has no problems about her move.
"It's a fantastic achievement and it's really good what she has achieved. This leaves her with the expectation to do even better. I can definitely say that she is playing better. Of course, you can debate that. Last year, she won the Australian Open defeating Carolina and registered other good performances. Today is the time to celebrate her feat. She is World No. 1 and I'm very happy for her. If going to Vimal has made this difference to her game, I have no problems with that," Gopichand told The Times of India.
He also commented about Saina signing a deal worth Rs. 25 crore with IOS Sports & Entertainment. He felt that her achievements now will motivate many youngsters to take up the game.
"Badminton today is a different ball game. There is more exposure to the sport. Earlier, people used to take notice of our results only if we made the finals of a particular event. Sometimes our results were reported after the end of the tournament. These days, there's a preview getting published. The television viewership and the number of people following the game have grown manifold. Obviously, the players' performances have been the primary reason for it and I'm very happy to see this happen."
"It strengthens badminton's commercial viability, which is very good. It will further motivate players to do well and prompt new guys to take up the sport. In 2004, when I started coaching, this was one of our dreams. I'm very happy that badminton players have reached a stage where they can label their sport as popular," the 2001 All England champion added.
He stated that he was happy with the performance of all the Indian shuttlers at the world championships.
"This World Championship has been very positive for me - whether it is Saina's silver, Jwala-Ashwini reaching the quarters or Sindhu coming close to winning a medal, even the men's singles display was really good - overall it has been very satisfying for me as a coach."
