Pullela Gopichand had to jog his memory cells to recall the last time he was on the sidelines of an Indian shuttler.
The chief national badminton coach was present in Jakarta to watch Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the World No. 6 duo, become the first Indians to win a Super 1000 title, beating Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh of Malaysia 21-17, 21-18.
“That was in a different world. All England Badminton Championships in March 2020. It was before the pandemic struck the world,” Gopi, as he is known in sporting circles, told The Telegraph from Kuala Lumpur on Monday evening.
Satwiksairaj on Sunday had said that “Gopi sir attending the game” was a huge boost for them.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag’s Jakarta jaunt has raised hopes of an Olympic medal in badminton doubles, but Gopi is not looking that far.
“There is still time for the Olympics,” he said. The Games begin in Paris on July 26 next year.
“Before that they will have four-five good tournaments like the World Championships, Asian Games, All England Badminton. Once these are done and dusted then we can talk about Paris and a medal,” he added.
Gopi felt Satwik and Chirag have all the ammunition to become the best in the world. “They are solid in attack, complement each other well and have an all-round game. It’s just that they need to stay healthy.”
Sat-Chi — the duo have earned this tag — have already won the Thomas Cup and Badminton Asia Championships. And there is the bronze in the World Championship too.
“Every tournament Satwik and Chirag play, they will be the team to beat. That’s the sort of domination they will have. Even when they lost early it was not that their game was poor. There could be many reasons,” Gopi said.
Gopi, 49, said the Jakarta trip was not a one-off for him with the team. “There were certain things that needed to be sorted out in my academy (in Hyderabad). Now that everything is in place I will be travelling with the team. The next stop will be Korea (Open) and then Japan.” The Korea Open is from July 18-23 while the Japan Open is from July 25-30.
