Indian shuttlers P.V Sindhu and Sameer Verma made their coach Pullela Gopichand proud by reaching the finals of the Hong Kong Super Series badminton championship, but sadly lost out in the finals. Gopichand thus achieved a rare feat by becoming the first badminton coach whose two players reached the finals in both men’s and women’s singles category in a major tournament.
According to One India, the chief national badminton coach was ecstatic on his rare achievement as he said, “This has been the first time my two students reached the finals together in both men’s and in the women’s section. I am simply overwhelmed by their success.”
Commenting on Sindhu’s defeat, who lost the Hong Kong Superseries final 21-15, 21-17 to Taiwanese Tai Tzu- Ying, Pullela said, “It was not that Sindhu collapsed. She gave her best. But her opposition in the final,Tai Tzu produced a superb show.”
The former All England champion feels that Tai Tzu was really clinical near the net and Sidhu’s failure to make out the deceptive shots cost her the match.
Gopichand was more than content with Sameer’s performance who started the tournament just as a qualifier and finished runners-up. He lost out to local favourite Ng Ka Long Angus 14-21 21-10 11-21 in a contest which lasted 50 minutes.
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The former Indian shuttler praised his young mentee who joined his academy five years ago as Gopichand said, “Sameer has made an incredible performance in Hong Kong. His key strength is his unorthodox style of game.”
Talking about the overall performance, Gopichand said, “The main thing which is making me satisfied gradually is a lot of my students are being able to implement my style of teaching in the matches also. They are rewarding my hard work and every day’s toil by being successful in the tournaments. That is the best laurel I am getting.”
Gopichand also made a special mention for his other student, Rituparna Das who won a women’s singles in a tournament in Hyderabad on Sunday. The badminton legend runs the Gopichand badminton academy. He is a dedicated trainer and conducts varieties of experiments to provide the best for his students.
