Gopichand Badminton Academy
Encyclopedia
Gopichand Badminton Academy is a badminton
training facility in Hyderabad, India
. Founded by the 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion
, Pullela Gopichand
, the facility trains several badminton players such as Saina Nehwal
, Parupalli Kashyap
, P. V. Sindhu
and Gurusai Datt
.
in 2001, Pullela Gopichand
was already 27 years old and was struggling with a few injuries. With not many playing years left, Gopichand decided to bring a world-class training facility for the next generation. With that intention, Gopichand decided to form a badminton academy. Soon after his well-recognized win in England, the Government of Andhra Pradesh
awarded him 5 acres (2 ha) of land in 2003. The land in Hyderabad's Gachibowli
area was offered as a lease at a very nominal rate for 45 years. At the same time, he started talks with Yonex
for sponsorship and also wanted to involve a foreign coach.
In the following year, Gopichand formulated his plans for the academy and approached Nimmagadda Prasad
, a distant relative and a serial entrepreneur, to raise money for this venture. Prasad had recently sold Matrix Laboratories, a manufacturing company, to Mylan Inc.. Since Prasad was convinced about Gopichand's idea, he immediately offered US$
500,000 and his assistance in raising an additional amount of US$2 million. With cricket
being a more popular sport, Gopichand and Prasad found it hard to raise additional money from other sources. Over time, Prasad increased his contribution to US$1.25 million. Gopichand's wife and former Olympian
, P. V. V. Lakshmi, was very supportive of him and even contributed to the effort of securing monetary support. Despite other donations, Gopichand could only gather US$1.75 million. It was then he decided to mortgage his family home and raise the remaining money for the already delayed project. In 2008, the facility was eventually completed at the cost of US$2.5 million.
Immediately after the construction, the Government of India
sent the Commonwealth Games
team to train at this facility. The government increased the daily rate they pay per player to US$20 for this special Games camp. This was a big jump from the US$5 daily fee per player that the government had previously paid for other training camps.
In 2008, Gopichand appealed to Bollywood
, the Hindi cinema industry
to become badminton's brand ambassador. He felt that by having a popular cinema icon supporting the sport will help popularize it.
Despite Saina Nehwal
's success in international tournaments, Gopichand found it hard to run the Academy. To run it at an optimal level, it requires US$300,000 a year. As of 2010, he was making do with US$100,000 to pay the training cost for 60 players and was holding off hiring more coaches.
's Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, which is headed by Prakash Padukone
. The architectural design was completed by Hyderabad-based Arvee Consultants. The wooden flooring of the courts were made as per international standards. In addition, physiotherapy, food and diet programs are also available.
used it as a training venue.
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
training facility in Hyderabad, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Founded by the 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion
2001 All England Open Badminton Championships
The 2001 All England Open was the 91st edition of the All England Open Badminton Championships. It was held from 7 March to 11 March 2001, in Birmingham, England.It was a four star tournament and the prize money was USD$125,000.-Final results:...
, Pullela Gopichand
Pullela Gopichand
Pullela Gopichand is an Indian Badminton player.He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001 defeating Chen Hong of China in the finals by 15-12,15-6. He became the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone, who won it in 1980...
, the facility trains several badminton players such as Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal is an Indian Khel Ratna badminton player currently ranked 4 in the world by Badminton World Federation. Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships...
, Parupalli Kashyap
Parupalli Kashyap
Parupalli Kashyap is a badminton player from India. He trains at the Hyderabad's Gopichand Badminton Academy and is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes....
, P. V. Sindhu
P. V. Sindhu
P. V. Sindhu or Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is a badminton player from India. She trains at the Hyderabad's Gopichand Badminton Academy and is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation that identifies and supports Indian athletes.- Career :Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born to P. V....
and Gurusai Datt
Gurusai Datt
Gurusai Datt R. M. V. or Gurusai Datt is a badminton player from India. He trains at the Hyderabad's Gopichand Badminton Academy and is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes...
.
History
By the time he won the All England Open Badminton ChampionshipsAll England Open Badminton Championships
The All England Open Badminton Championships, or simply All England, is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious badminton tournaments. Played annually, it developed after the success of world's first badminton tournament held in Guildford in 1898...
in 2001, Pullela Gopichand
Pullela Gopichand
Pullela Gopichand is an Indian Badminton player.He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001 defeating Chen Hong of China in the finals by 15-12,15-6. He became the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone, who won it in 1980...
was already 27 years old and was struggling with a few injuries. With not many playing years left, Gopichand decided to bring a world-class training facility for the next generation. With that intention, Gopichand decided to form a badminton academy. Soon after his well-recognized win in England, the Government of Andhra Pradesh
Government of Andhra Pradesh
Government of Andhra Pradesh is the government for the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India.It is an elected government with 294 MLAs elected to the legislative assembly for a 5 year term.-Executive:...
awarded him 5 acres (2 ha) of land in 2003. The land in Hyderabad's Gachibowli
Gachibowli
Gachibowli is a major IT suburb of Hyderabad, located in the Serilingampally mandal of the Rangareddy district. It is situated about 5 km away from HITEC City, another IT hub. Both these suburbs lie on the north-west part of Hyderabad city.-Economy:...
area was offered as a lease at a very nominal rate for 45 years. At the same time, he started talks with Yonex
Yonex
is a Japanese manufacturer of sporting equipment for badminton, golf and tennis, producing racquets, clubs, shoes, shuttlecocks, and other equipment for those sports.-History:...
for sponsorship and also wanted to involve a foreign coach.
In the following year, Gopichand formulated his plans for the academy and approached Nimmagadda Prasad
Nimmagadda Prasad
Nimmagadda Prasad, is an Indian serial entrepreneur, the founder and Vice Chairman of Matrix Laboratories, Chairman of MAA TV and VANPIC. Mr. Prasad is often addressed as "Matrix Prasad" or "MAA Prasad" in the social circles....
, a distant relative and a serial entrepreneur, to raise money for this venture. Prasad had recently sold Matrix Laboratories, a manufacturing company, to Mylan Inc.. Since Prasad was convinced about Gopichand's idea, he immediately offered US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
500,000 and his assistance in raising an additional amount of US$2 million. With cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
being a more popular sport, Gopichand and Prasad found it hard to raise additional money from other sources. Over time, Prasad increased his contribution to US$1.25 million. Gopichand's wife and former Olympian
Olympian
- Magic and mythology :* One of the Twelve Olympians* One of the seven spirits described in Arbatel de magia veterum- Technology :* Leyland Olympian, double decker bus* Volvo Olympian, double decker bus* Volvo Olympian , also known as Volvo B9TL...
, P. V. V. Lakshmi, was very supportive of him and even contributed to the effort of securing monetary support. Despite other donations, Gopichand could only gather US$1.75 million. It was then he decided to mortgage his family home and raise the remaining money for the already delayed project. In 2008, the facility was eventually completed at the cost of US$2.5 million.
Immediately after the construction, the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
sent the Commonwealth Games
India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
India hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games which were held in Delhi. India won 101 medals in total, including 38 Gold medals, enabling it to finish the Games at second position behind Australia and just ahead of England. For the first time in the history of the Games India won over 100 medals in total...
team to train at this facility. The government increased the daily rate they pay per player to US$20 for this special Games camp. This was a big jump from the US$5 daily fee per player that the government had previously paid for other training camps.
In 2008, Gopichand appealed to Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
, the Hindi cinema industry
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
to become badminton's brand ambassador. He felt that by having a popular cinema icon supporting the sport will help popularize it.
Despite Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal is an Indian Khel Ratna badminton player currently ranked 4 in the world by Badminton World Federation. Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships...
's success in international tournaments, Gopichand found it hard to run the Academy. To run it at an optimal level, it requires US$300,000 a year. As of 2010, he was making do with US$100,000 to pay the training cost for 60 players and was holding off hiring more coaches.
Facilities
After construction, the US$2.5 million badminton training academy contains eight courts, a swimming pool, weight training room, cafeteria and rooms to sleep. The construction of this facility was modeled after BangaloreBangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
's Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, which is headed by Prakash Padukone
Prakash Padukone
Prakash Padukone is a former badminton player from Karnataka, India. Among other championships, he won the All England Championship and became the first Indian to do so. Prakash was awarded the Padma Sri in 1982...
. The architectural design was completed by Hyderabad-based Arvee Consultants. The wooden flooring of the courts were made as per international standards. In addition, physiotherapy, food and diet programs are also available.
Tournament center
The Academy has also served as a venue for major sporting events. The 2009 Indian Open was held here while the 2009 BWF World Championships2009 BWF World Championships
The 2009 BWF World Championships was the 17th tournament of the BWF World Championships, a global tournament in the sport of badminton. It was held at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, from August 10 to August 16, 2009...
used it as a training venue.
Notable players
- Saina NehwalSaina NehwalSaina Nehwal is an Indian Khel Ratna badminton player currently ranked 4 in the world by Badminton World Federation. Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships...
, who is ranked 2 in the women's singles category. - Parupalli KashyapParupalli KashyapParupalli Kashyap is a badminton player from India. He trains at the Hyderabad's Gopichand Badminton Academy and is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes....
, who is ranked 32 in the men's singles category. - Gurusai DattGurusai DattGurusai Datt R. M. V. or Gurusai Datt is a badminton player from India. He trains at the Hyderabad's Gopichand Badminton Academy and is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes...
, who's ranked 40 in the men's singles category. - P. V. SindhuP. V. SindhuP. V. Sindhu or Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is a badminton player from India. She trains at the Hyderabad's Gopichand Badminton Academy and is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation that identifies and supports Indian athletes.- Career :Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born to P. V....