Change in badminton has been fantastic, says Gopichand
- Gopichand summed up the changes that badminton has undergone in the past decade in one word: "Fantastic"
- "The earnings of top players have gone up dramatically as well. They are encouraging a whole set of people to take the sport forward," Gopichand said.
- Gopichand was hopeful of India winning a gold at Tokyo 2020.
"The sport has jumped in all parameters. Prakash (Padukone) Sir played leagues in Denmark, Vimal (Kumar) played in the United Kingdom, I played leagues in Germany and today we host the biggest badminton league in the world (Premier Badminton League).
"So yeah, things have changed. We have (Carolina) Marin coming here to play, Viktor (Axelson) coming here to play. Tournaments in those countries have stopped because we have leagues more popular than theirs.
"The earnings of top players have gone up dramatically as well. They are encouraging a whole set of people to take the sport forward," said the former All England champion.
Gopichand was in Mumbai to felicitate the seven winners of the IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence #Young Champ programme. The seven selected youngsters will undergo training at his academy in Hyderabad.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are a year-and-a-half away and the most obvious question to the coach was what according to him are India's chances.
"Well, I think every year, in the last few years, has been better than the previous one.
"In the 2008 edition of the Beijing Games, we made it to the quarterfinal for the first time. In the 2012 London Games we won an individual bronze (Saina Nehwal) for the first time. In the Rio Games in 2016, we won our first-ever silver medal (PV Sindhu). So I am hopeful that in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics we will have our first-ever gold," Gopichand said sounding extremely confident.
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