Pullela Gopichand wins Sportstar Aces Coach of the Decade

Chief national badminton coach P. Gopichand was presented the Coach of the Decade honour at the 2021 Sportstar ACES Awards on Sunday.

A champion shuttler who turned into a highly successful coach, Gopichand has the distinction of producing two Olympic medallists in Saina Newal and P. V. Sindhu. The former won the singles bronze at the 2012 London Games, while Sindhu bettered the colour of the medal by winning silver four years later in Rio.

Gopichand also played a key role in Kidambi Srikanth’s rise to the top of the men’s singles rankings and in B. Sai Praneeth becoming the first Indian men’s badminton player since Prakash Padukone to win a bronze medal at the world championships.

“A big thank you to Sportstar , the management and the jury for this wonderful award. We have all grown up thinking of being a Sportstar icon and having all those posters of sports stars of yesteryear when we were children. Today, to actually receive this award as Coach of the Decade from Sportstar is something really wonderful,” said Gopichand, the second Indian to win the prestigious All England Championships after the legendary Prakash Padukone.

“I remember receiving this award in 2001 as a Sportsperson of the Year, and 20 years later to get this award from Sportstar is really phenomenal. Thank you, Sportstar ,” he said.

The 2021 edition of the Sportstar ACES Awards honoured the Giants of the Decade in Indian sport, with the winners being assessing on their performance and consistency from 2011 to 2020. Eleven awards were presented under the popular choice category, which was open to public voting, along with 14 jury awards as well as special recognition awards under two new categories – Sports for Good and Giants off the Field – that recognise the work of organisations and individuals who have used sports for the betterment of society.