Gopichand’s daughter Gayatri wins twin crowns in Jakarta

National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand’s daughter Gayatri Pullela has bagged both the singles and doubles crown at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Jakarta.

Gayatri eked out a hard-fought 21-11 18-21 21-16 win over her doubles partner Samiya Farooqui to win the girls U-15 singles title.

Gayatri later teamed up with Samiya to clinch the U-15 doubles title with a straight game 21-17 21-15 win over Indonesian pair of Kelly Larissa and Shelandry Vyola.

Both Gayatri and Samiya train together at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

Speaking after the U-15 doubles event, Samiya said, “It was a great experience for me considering I was playing my own partner in the singles final. Tournaments like these are a great learning for us, and we look forward to many such competitions. I would also like to thank our coach Gopi sir who is helping us get better and better.”