Gopi Chand: 'Saina and Sindhu are precious diamonds'

P. Gopi Chand described P. V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, India's leading badminton stars, as "precious diamonds."

Last month, Saina claimed her second individual Commonwealth Games gold medal by defeating world number 3 Sindhu 21-18 23-21 in a riveting women’s singles final at Gold Coast, Australia.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Ladies Organisation (FLO) felicitated the two shining stars of Indian badminton Saina Nehwal and P. V. Sindhu, along with coach P. Gopi Chand,
here on Saturday.

"As a coach, I treat both Saina and Sindhu as precious diamonds. Winning or losing among both happens every day at the Academy," Gopi Chand said. The coach commended both for contesting the women’s final in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

"During competitions or before matches, I take away the mobile phones of players including Saina and Sindhu. I raid their rooms to check laptops, and refrigerators to see whether they have chocolates stocked. One has to be strict with them to win. My dream is to see my students winning gold in Olympics," Gopi Chand further added.

Bollywood fans

Sindhu, who had won the silver in the Riio Olympics, said she would try to win gold in the Tokyo Olympics, and admitted she liked Deepika Padukone among the Bollywood stars. Saina also called herself a Bollywood fan and loved watching movies "when not playing."

The president of FLO, Pinky Reddy said, "We believe that to achieve the holistic goal of women empowerment, more and more women need to engage in sports, and equal opportunities should be created for them."

The FLO president further stressed that "successful women must be recognised not only because they deserve it, but also because it encourages other women to face all odds and emerge victorious and confident."