After his disciple PV Sindhu won the Silver medal in Rio Olympics, Indian badminton player Pullela Gopichand is being projected by both local and national media as no less than a legend.
At a time when both the AP and Telangana governments are trying to take the credit of encouraging Sindhu and Gopichand, here is an interesting revelation from the horse's mouth.
In one of his past interviews, Gopichand had revealed that he was encouraged a lot by then Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh Nara Chandrababu Naidu. He added that Chandrababu had allotted him 5 acres of land to set up the badminton academy at Gachibowli in Hyderabad, where he trained the likes of Saina Nehwal and Sindhu, who went to win medals in Olympics.
Interestingly, Gopichand also revealed that the next Congress Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy aka YSR tried to grab the land. Gopichand had to move to the Court to get a stay order or he would have lost the land even after setting up the academy.
This is the true face of our politicians who only come to the fore to take credit of success but create a lot of obstacles during the strolling days of sportspersons. Without proper encouragement from the governments, it is not possible for athletes to shine at International level.