India's chief coach Pullela Gopichand has credited Saina Nehwal for changing the perception of badminton in the country. "For a long time, before these girls [Saina and PV Sindhu] emerged, badminton was primarily known for men's singles players be it Nandu Natekar, Suresh Goel, Prakash [Padukone] Sir or Syed Modi. That's how things were. Saina was important in bringing about that change [in perception].

"We needed somebody with that kind of push, hunger and will to win," Gopichand said. Gopichand was in Mumbai yesterday for a felicitation function where seven shuttlers in the age group of nine to 12 were honoured for being winners of the IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence Young Champs Programme. The youngsters will be trained at Gopichand's academy in Hyderabad for the next two years.