Pullela Gopichand is an Indian former badminton player. Back in 2001, he won the All England Open Badminton Championships, becoming the second Indian to accomplish this accomplishment following Prakash Padukone. A recipient of this prestigious Arjuna award which is awarded to recognize outstanding accomplishment in domestic sports, he's also won several other accolades for his sporting achievements.
He had been interested in sports from a young age through early on his focus was more on cricket. It was only at the urging of his elder brother that he started playing badminton instead. Originally he performed only for recreation but finally started participating in, and winning competitions.
He went on to serve as the captain of the Indian joint universities badminton staff in 1990 and 1991 which made him realize he wanted to pursue badminton on a professional level.
Following a successful career as a professional player, he founded the Gopichand Badminton Academy to train upcoming Indian players of this sport.
Childhood & Early Life
He was interested in sports from a young age. As a little boy, he used to play cricket and took up badminton at the age of 11 on the reinforcement of his elder brother. Even then, he played the game only recreationally for some time prior to participating in competitions.
Then he earned his diploma in public management from A. V. College. An emerging talent in badminton, he served as the captain of the Indian combined universities badminton team in 1990 and 1991. In 1991 he was selected because of his nation's junior badminton team.
He wanted to become a professional badminton player. While he received support from his mother, he was also expected to look for engineering tests. He flunked the test and chose to delve head-on into sports.
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