AFTER Prakash Padukone who, used to be the question often asked during the evening of the maestro's career. Syed Modi was perceived as a genius in the sport, but he met with a tragic end. Soon the glory days of Indian badminton gave way to engulfing darkness for want of classy performers.
If there is a light at the end of the tunnel now then the reason is the discovery of a talent named Pullela Gopi Chand, the genial giant of Indian badminton in the modern era. Almost two decades after Prakash had made the badminton world sit up with his stirring conquest of the All-England crown and also the world title soon thereafter, Gopi Chand has emulated the maestro by winning the All-England title. And it promises to be another path-breaking era in the annals of Indian badminton.
Seldom has a sportsperson gone through the kind of trials and tribulations in the single minded pursuit of excellence as Gopi Chand ever since the day he decided to take to the sport and earn a name for himself. It was in 1994 at the Pune badminton competition of the national Games that Gopi, playing doubles with Vijayaraghavan, suddenly slumped catching his knee. He had twisted it little knowing then that the damage was intense, even career-threatening. Any other player would have perhaps been sunk by this adversity, but not this gritty performer from Andhra, a native of Nagandla village in Prakasam district.
With the Delhi-based Dr. Ashok Rajgopal treating him and encouragement coming from his relatives and well-wishers, Gopi was back on the court albeit with braces. But that did not stop him from beating the then National champion Dipankar Bhattacharjee in the Petroleum inter-Unit meet, exactly a year after the injury. What is more his perseverance paid three years later when he bagged the national championship in Pune itself, ironically in the same hall where disaster had struck him earlier, ending Dipankar's three-year tenure at the summit.
Knee problems kept dogging him for sometime, but his tenacity and positive attitude helped him take such challenges in his stride and emerge a king in the sport. "I have never till date gone into a match and come out without giving my 100 per cent. I've never done that and I am proud of that", said the great player in all humility in an interview to The Sportstar on his never-say-die attitude that keeps him going.
When he was 14 years old, even his coach did not think that Gopi had it in him to last beyond a match or two in a tournament. But when he surpassed his coach's expectations and won a tournament that was the first sign of the shape of things to come. At least his mother, Subbaravamma, his main critic in later years, saw the most desirable quality in her son, that of grit. And then when he honed his skills at Prakash's BPL Academy in Bangalore, Gopi learnt to temper the smashes with deft touches and deception. The Academy made him a complete player and opened new avenues for him.
The initial experience in the German league made him realise that the big names in the sport could be overwhelmed with a little extra effort. The experience fortified his confidence even as he strengthened his courtcraft. The wins over Sweden's Thomas Johansson, and China's Luo Yigang in the Sanyo World Cup and his victory against the 1992 Olympic champion Alan Budi Kusuma earlier were landmark achievements in his career, something that convinced him that he could play a major role in world badminton. Again, in the SAS Cup in Austria in 1997, Gopi, despite entering as a wild card, stormed into the final, beating enroute the 1996 Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen. A year later and after overcoming another bout of knee problems that led to a slump in his world ranking, Gopi was back in shape to win the bronze in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. He also helped India win a silver.
When he began to make an impact, Gopi realised that it was time to change gears and realise his dream of winning tournaments abroad, for ultimately that was what mattered if one aspired for a place among the best in the business. His decision to leave Prakash's tutelage was influenced by the desire that his game had to be more than a mere toss, half smash and drop. What counted was how swiftly the end points could be won. Joining with coach Ganguly Prasad, Gopi charted a new course at the SAI Centre, Bangalore. The fruits of his labours came with wins in the Scottish Open, Toulouse Open and an Asian Satellite tourney at home. What is more he spearheaded India's challenge in the Thomas Cup in New Delhi in 2000, remained unbeaten and helped the country to qualify for the Cup final at Kuala Lumpur after a 12-year hiatus.
His rising career graph shot up further with eyecatching performances in the Malaysian Open where he beat the eventual Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng, the Asian Championship and the Ipoh Masters, where he beat the World number one, Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat. From someone who hardly caused a ripple, Gopi began to raise a flutter with his international conquests. Each major win only steeled his resolve and made him believe that he could take on the best. His rise from a low of 40 in the world rankings to six confirmed that he could be a world-beater. The icing on the cake came earlier this year when he did a Prakash by winning the coveted All-England championship and what an array of stars he felled enroute to glory, that too as a player seeded 10! Instantly Gopi had become a household name.
Few had given him a chance of making it big in Birmingham, fewer still had believed that he would get more than a passing reference as he was a lower seeded player. But history will record in golden letters the pugnacious approach of a humble man, for what he achieved was akin to pulling a rabbit out of a hat. It was magic all the way right from the first round win over Ronald Susilo to Dane Anders Boesn in the quarters, the prized victim Peter Gade Christensen, another Dane, in the semi-final and the Chinese Chen Hong in the final. The statement, "I always believed these guys could be beaten," summed up Gopi's mental strength, a trait that was a product of his deep belief in himself. In retrospect it was his win over Peter Gade, against whom he had a 0-3 record, that paved the way for the big moment. And it was such a close match with both the games going to extra points. "My defence was good, I could match his speed and on the whole gave my 100 per cent," Gopi said on what finally swung the match in his favour.
"One of the greatest victories by an Indian sportsman," said the maestro Prakash on Gopi's grand show in his Sportstar column. "He had never won a Grand Prix title before. It was therefore all the more creditable that he managed to win the All-England trophy straightaway", he added, stating that "his mental toughness was very much evident throughout the magical week in Birmingham".
Like Prakash, Gopi too is known for his humility and down-to-earth conduct off the court. Aggressive on the court but humble off it, Gopi is also known to keep his commitments. The participation in the recent Punjab National Games is a case in point. Despite being in the midst of training in England, Gopi found the time to be in Jalandhar to help Andhra Pradesh win a big share of the honours. The crowd too gave him a standing ovation.
Yet, there must be two things that should be worrying him. One, a lack of a player of like strength in India with whom he could meaningfully test his prowess. Chetan Anand is his usual training partner at home but the young man, despite all the qualities that make him one of the better players in India, has still a long way to go. The Jalandhar competition proved that with Chetan's meek surrender.
Then again, the new points system (seven-point game as against the earlier 15-point game) has not been to Gopi's liking. But then facing the odds has been a part of his emerging process. If it was injuries earlier that steeled his mental makeup then it is the challenge of changing tactics that should evoke a matching response from Gopi. Given his resolve, his relentless pursuit of perfection and strong self-belief, Gopi at 27 could still add a few glittering chapters to his already glittering career. Today, he is not alone in believing that he can do it. After his Birmingham success many more believe in him too. The man who broke away from the ordinary to cement a place in the galaxy of greats in Indian badminton, Gopi Chand richly deserves a place along with stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Viswanathan Anand, Sourav Ganguly, Md. Azharuddin, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi as The Sportstar's Sportsperson of the Year.
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