Pullela Gopichand to set up badminton academy in Greater Noida

New Delhi, July 20: Chief National coach Pullela Gopichand is all geared up to set up a world class Badminton Academy at Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida. Gopichand, Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) and Sportzlive came together today (July 20) to sign the agreement for the academy.

Gopichand's new academy in Hyderabad

This will be the first such academy by Gopichand in North India. He already has academies at the Gwalior, Vadodara and Hyderabad.

The "Gopichand Badminton Academy" set up in 2001 at Hyderabad is a badminton training facility and boasts of producing the cream of Indian badminton players like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, P Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth.

"It has always been my dream to see Indian badminton peak. There was a perception that only oriental people do well in badminton. Also once a corporate guy told me that badminton can't have enough eyeballs. I am happy to prove them wrong," Gopichand said.

"This is my first academy in this part of the country and we look forward to promote the badminton culture here. This academy will be modelled on the excellence centre we have built in Hyderabad and over the next few years we expect talented players to emerge out of here too," he added.

The Centre of Excellence will have about 25 talented students in the age group 8-15 years to begin with. Preference will be given to the students from surrounding areas and other parts of Uttar Pradesh.

These students will be sponsored by the academy. The academy will have a head foreign coach and a host of Indian coaches to nurture the talent.

The academy, managed by Sportzlive, a Sports Management company, intends to become a centre of excellence to nurture the talent of the region. The academy has an area of about 30,000 square feet and will have about 8 courts.

The indoor stadium can accomodate about 4,300 audiences making it one of the most spectacular academies in this part of the world.

The academy will also have a commercial academy which will train students from all walks of life including corporates for an annual fee and an Excellence centre which will focus on nurturing future champions. The academy is likely to become operational by early October this year.

PTI