The Gopichand Factor by Abhijeet Kulkarni

 

Year of Publication: 2021

What does it take to make India a force to reckon with in the world of badminton? A man with the vision and the drive and a few youngsters hungry for victory! 

Abhijeet Kulkarni's The Gopichand Factor: The Rise and Rise of Indian Badminton offers it's readers exhaustive information about how Pullela Gopichand, the 2001 All England winner, ventured into coaching to turn India into a badminton powerhouse like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea. 

Abhijeet Kulkarni does not restrict the scope of the book to what Gopichand did for Indian badminton. The book also focuses on some well-known and lesser-known predecessors and contemporaries of Gopichand who played an instrumental role in helping India reach where it is in the world of badminton. Kulkarni does a great job by dedicating the first few chapters of the book to the 'unsung heroes' and 'erstwhile rising stars' who had to abandon badminton for various reasons. 

The book builds into the premise like a story, focussing on the flashbacks and critical events before moving forward. It also focuses on some of the new innovations, challenges, backstage politics of the Badminton Association of India or BAI and the response of players and coaches, including Gopichand. 

The reader may be surprised to find that the author has not dedicated an entire chapter on the current poster girl of Indian badminton, P V Sindhu like it has been done for Saina Nehwal. However, the author can be forgiven for this omission for two reasons- Saina was the path-breaker and maker for the newer crop of badminton players like Sindhu, and Sindhu still has a long career ahead of her. 

Overall, the book is a great read for anyone interested in Indian badminton and those who are interested in knowing about the role Gopichand played in nurturing it. 

Rating: 9.4/10

Verdict: Chak de India! of Indian Badminton

P.S: The shortcomings and the challenges faced by Indian badminton can be seen in the Amole Gupte-directorial Saina, the biopic of Saina Nehwal and the Prime documentary Marin on Rio 2016 Gold medallist Carolina Marin.