‘Saina has struck fear among Chinese’

He said that Saina will be one of best medal hopes of India in badminton at the 2012 Olympics. “Jwala Gutta and Ashwini are also good players. It’s a bit early to say much about the Olympics because things will be more clear about four months before the mega event as there are tournaments in between,” he added.

Defending Saina’s performance at the Indonesia Open held last month where she was defeated by Wang Yihan of China in the final,Gopichand said,“Reaching the finals is also a huge achievement. Talking about the reason for her defeat will be like asking why Roger Federer lost in Wimbledon. It is not easy to reach the top five in the world ranking and the fact that she has defeated players who are considered quite strong speaks about her talent and hard work. Saina has become a motivating factor for the youngsters. Even this year which is considered a ‘bad year’ for her by many,she emerged champion once and has been runners-up twice in international tourneys.”

When asked about the difference which had cropped up between Saina and him,Gopi only said that now everything is ‘OK’.

Regarding the talk of a separate panel of coaches for the junior and the senior players Gopi declined to make any comments. He was full of praise for the facilities available at the UP Badminton Academy.

“It is big. This is a stadium. It looks very nice. It has the capacity to play host to such a big event as the present one.”

Replying to a question pertaining to the facilities available at the Gopichand Badminton Academy,Hyderabad,Gopichand said,”It has everything which a player needs for training. It has practice atmosphere,running track,a swimming pool,accommodation facility for 55 players and a study for players. There are 8 courts there.”

When asked that since UPBA has got the status of a national training centre,is it more suited for the junior camps or the senior camps,Gopichand said,“There should be continuity in quality training instead of short camps. Players have become a lot more vocal. So they can always say whether they want to train at Bangalore,Pune or Hyderabad or at any other centre. If ten more Academies are opened and quality training is imparted there,then it will be beneficial for the game,” he explained.

Gopichand said that UP has a tradition of producing good shuttlers. “Be it Syed Modi or Abhinn Syham Gupta all belonged to UP,though of late there are not many names from UP.”

He said that in order to triumph at the international level both the coaches and the players have to believe that the best in the world can be beaten.

Gopi’s humble side came to the fore when he said that many among the youngsters playing at the Asian Youth Badminton Championships “are much more talented than I was.”

“It is because of this that I feel that India has a bright future. It is for the first time that India has able to get a bronze in the team championships of the Asian youth badminton championships. If we look at just the past one year,we will find Indian shuttlers excelling in various international meets. The central government support for the few years has been phenomenal and has contributed immensely to the growth of the game.”