RAHUL DRAVID (Cricket)
This has been a year to remember for India U-19 and A team coach, Rahul Dravid. The former Indiacaptain guided the U-19 team to its World Cup win in February. Later, he guided the India A team towins in England. He has played a key role in creating a talent pool.
Pullela Gopi Chand (Badminton)
Over the years, Pullela Gopichand has made it a habit to produce champions. As the head coach of the country’s badminton team, Gopichand has played a key role in the team’s success in major championships. At the Commonwealth, India had the maximum number of medals in badminton, winning two gold medals ( Saina in women and mixed team gold), three silver (Sindhu, Srikanth and men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty) and one bronze (women’s doubles team of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy).
India also clinched a silver (Sindhu) and bronze ( Saina) at the Asian Games this year. Sindhu broke her finals jinx of sorts by winning the BWF World Tour Finals title in December.
MASSIMO COSTANTINI (TABLE TENNIS)
Massimo Costantini returned for a second stint as India coach in 2016 after India's disastrous performance at the Rio Olympics. Under him, India won eight medals at the Commonwealth Games this year and further made history by winning two medals at the Asian Games.
Manika Batra, G. Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal also attained their best-ever ranking this year. India was keen on extending his contract until 2020 Olympics, but Costantini decided to return home to Italy after the Asian Games He took up the role of ITTF's High Performance Director after leaving the India job.
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