Coaches hold on to players for too long for recognition: Gopi

Lack of recognition has led to badminton coaches clinging on to shuttlers for way too long, feels chief national coach Pullela Gopichand.
Gopichand said the efforts of the coaches and support staff working behind the players need to be acknowledged.
"The efforts of the coaches are not highlighted. None of the coaches who attend camps are paid well, there is not enough motivation among the support staff. We need to recognise the people who work behind the players," Gopichand said during a conclave organised by BAI here today.
"There is no classification here. In education system, you have KG, graduation and PG but here since coaching recognition is linked to players performance so sometimes coaches hold on to the players for way too long than they are capable of.

"We need to be constructive. This means that each one of us have to take care of our work properly," he added.
Gopichand said it was important to integrate the systems together to make India a super power in world badminton.

"It is important to integrate the systems together, we take suggestion, sit together and device a plan. We will differ on many issues but we have to agree on something. Independently we can't work. Only together we can make that jump to make India a super power in world badminton."
The chief coach said the Indian badminton will have to move together as a system if the country has to win at least two medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"Badminton has grown a lot in the last few years. It is one of the biggest sports in the country. But going forward will be challenging," Gopichand said.
"It is important that we celebrate the wins, we celebrate that our players who are in top 50, we celebrate that two Indians played in the finals of a Super Series event, we celebrate that we won two medals at Olympics.
"But to go ahead and to win gold it will not be easy, we have to compete against the best players, we have to compete against the best coaches and system. To win two medals at the 2020 Olympics that will be the challenge, our players are there in top 30 but to move forward we have to move together as a system," he explained.

The 2001 All England champion said India is a diverse country and we need to use our resources well.
"We don't want to put a Manipuri guy at Hyderabad because he has a different culture. India is like a continent, distances are huge and cultures are different. So we have to use our resources better," he said.
"Our ranking system doesn't reflect who are the best Indian players, there is also the issue of age fraud. It is a big issue," said Gopichand.