PV Sindhu can win gold at Commonwealth Games: Pullela Gopichand

Pullela Gopichand is a oneman industry as far as Indian badminton is concerned The former All England champion and national chief coach for nearly a decade now has helped the nation emerge as formidable unit in the sport on the world stageIndias PV Sindhu PicsAFP Getty ImagesIndias Saina Nehwal won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and followed it up with a historic Olympic bronze at London 2012 Teenage prodigy PC Sindhu also scripted history with a medal at the World Championships where she defeated some of the worlds top players including the fabled ChineseUnder Gopichand Indian men have also done well in singles while the team won silver at the CWG 2010 Recently Indias eves rewrote history once again with a bronze at the prestigious Uber Cup So whats in store at Glasgow 2014 that begins on Wednesday In an interview with midday Gopichand says his team is aiming for the stars once againExcerptsWhat changes has Indian badminton been through since the 2010 CWGWe have become quite a strong badminton country now Our base can still be stronger though because its still not easy to beat the Chinese or Koreans etc But we have won quite a few medals in the international arena and made our presence felt We are taken seriously now Since CWG 2010 when basically it all started players like Saina Jwala Gutta Ashwini Ponappa Sindhu Parupalli Kashyap Kidambi Srikanth etc have become very famous Secondly infrastructure is getting better and the Badminton Association of India has helped with the right motivation and direction Its tough to pick the most satisfying success yet but the Uber Cup bronze was very hearteningPullela GopichandWhat are our medal prospects in GlasgowWe strong in ladies singles though Kristy Gilmour of Scotland and Canadas Li Michelle are the names that our girls must be careful of Even though Saina who has withdrawn due to severe blisters that refuse to heal Sindhu will be among the favourites for the big medal She has a very good chance We also have a very good chance of retaining the gold in the ladies doubles as Jwala and Ashwini are playing well Malaysian World No 1 Lee Chong Weis absence opens the mens singles event too Our boys are fit and raring to go but in Wei Feng Chong of Malaysia we have a tough customer Hes really good and will spearhead the Malaysian challenge Englands Rajiv Ouseph will have home advantage Overall we are good for a couple of medals here too For gold Id say its 5050 It will depend on the players form on the given day In the mixed and men doubles we may struggle as there are some good pairs around Thats still our weak linkWhat about the team championships where we won silver in New DelhiWe did well to defeat England last time and they will be hungry for revenge But its a 5050 chance for gold as Malaysia is there too and despite Lee Chong Weis absence they are still a balanced side Our strength lies in in ladies singles and doubles while the Malaysians are better in the mens and mixed events But a first ever team gold at the CWG will be the icing on the cake and it is within our reachFinally any basic problem areas in Indian badminton that you need to look at to further enhance our global successWe are still a bit weak in the doubles events Though Jwala and Ashwini are doing well enough mdash they just won us a bronze medal at the Asian Championships mdash we need many more such players We have specialist coaches now for doubles and BAI is looking into this aspect seriously So it should be a matter of time before India starts producing some more top class players to follow in the footsteps of Jwala and Ashwini In ladies singles Saina and Sindhu are doing fine and have many years of badminton left in them Among the men Srikanth Sourabh Sai Praneet etc are still developing and will be top class with some more experience But in both events we need to have many more players so that we can rise to a higher standard Traditionally India has done well in singles events But with more focus and direction given to paired events Im sure we will soon have top class pairs all over Besides having so many international events in India is also helps