New Delhi [India], March 5 (ANI): The Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team Pullela Gopichand on Tuesday hoped that Indian badminton players will have their “best medal haul” at the upcoming Paris Paralympic Games.
While speaking to ANI, Gopichand said that the “right kind of support” from the government and the NGOs will help the Indian badminton players shine in the Paralympic Games 2024.
“In Paralympics, Indian badminton players have done very well. We as a nation have grown in the last few years as far as Parasports is concerned. With the right kind of preparation and support we are getting from the government and the other NGOs, we will have India’s best medal haul at the Paralympic games,” Gopichand said.
He further added that all the players who have qualified for the Olympic and Paralympic games will have a chance to win a medal. Gopichand also praised Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and said that he would be one of the players to look forward to.
“I do believe all the players who qualified will have a chance to win a medal, ofcourse Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be one of the players to look forward to. But I also do think that Prannoy, PV Sindhu, and the women’s doubles, I think each one of them has a chance to win medals in the Olympics,” he added.
Earlier while speaking at the Revsportz Trailblazers conclave’s pre-press conference, Gopichand said that interacting with personalities from other sports helps a coach to progress in their field.
“In the career of a coach, there come saturation points after dealing with one specific discipline for a long time. Me, for example, will not know more than another badminton coach after some time. It’s in times like these that interacting with personalities from other disciplines helps. This exchange of ideas is essential in the progress of a coach. The conclave provides us this platform,” he said.
Earlier, Suyash Jadhav secured the 2024 Paris Paralympics quota in the Men’s 50m Butterfly S7 category with his brilliant performance at the previous Asian Para Games. His magnificent time of 32.22 seconds at the Asian Para Games helped the para swimmer confirm his spot in the mega event in Paris.
Other than Suyash Jadhav, the Indian men’s and women’s table tennis teams have obtained quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics based on their respective rankings, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) confirmed on Monday. Paris 2024 will mark the first time that India will have representation in the team events at the Olympics. Both the men’s and women’s team events were introduced in the Olympic programme at Beijing 2008. (ANI)
