Indian shuttlers will shine in Tokyo, assures Gopichand

Indias chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand is confident of a better show from the countryrsquos shuttlers expecting PV Sindhu in particular to go for the gold medal at the Tokyo OlympicsGopichand is also hoping for Indiarsquos medal to be in double digits as the country sends it biggestever contingentmdash228 including 119 athletes tothe GamesIndiarsquos Satwiksairaj Rankireddy left and Chirag Shetty PicAFPOpportunities galoreldquoI believe that this time around we will have Indiarsquos biggest medal tally at the Olympics We could surpass what the Indian team did in London six medals and hopefully get in to double digits because whether itrsquos shooting wrestling boxing or Mirabai Chanu weightlifting I think we have a lot of chances to win medals Also there has been a lot of support and help from the government and with that kind of a support winning more medals strengthens the hands of the people related to sportsrdquo Gopichand said during a webinar to announce the collaboration of Heartfulness Institute and Dhyana the official meditation partner of Indian Olympic contingent on WednesdayThe former AllEngland Open champion under whom Saina Nehwal won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and Sindhu won silver at the 2016 Rio Games added ldquoIn badminton this time we do have chances to better what we did in Rio and London Irsquom hoping Sindhu can pull it off gold medal She is definitely going to be one of the favourites at this OlympicsrdquoIndiarsquos World No 10 doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are also medal prospects despite a tough draw according to GopichandPullela Gopichand PicAFPTough road for Sai PraneethldquoThough Chirag and Satwik have a tough draw I see them as potential hopefuls for a medal For Sai Praneeth menrsquos singles though itrsquos going to be tough But he has done well at the World Championships and I hope he can repeat that performancerdquo explained Gopichand adding that stress is an important issue that athletes have to battle in Tokyo besides the competition given the stringent COVID19 protocols ldquoThis Olympics will be very different from whatever we had in the past Typically the Olympics is like a celebration a party or festival with a lot of young people from across the world Normally itrsquos a very vibrant environment but this time itrsquoll be a doyourworkandmove kind of place because after you lose you have to leave the country within 48 hours Thatrsquos the kind of norms they have Every morning you get up you wear your mask and get yourself tested for temperature so itrsquos going to be stressfulrdquo concluded GopichandAlso Read Deepak Chahar Rahul sir believed in me