It was 2001 when current India coach Pullela Gopichand won the prestigious All England championship to set new benchmark for Indian badminton back then. Following his footsteps was the current lot of the shuttlers who are now coached by the veteran but they have still failed to make the dream of the coach come true.
Its been 18 years since an Indian won the title. PV Sindhu came close to winning the title in 2018 but a close loss to Akane Yamaguchi of Japan ousted him from the picture in the semi-final.
Gopichand still optimistic about India’s chances
Meanwhile, Pullela Gopichand is hopeful that an Indian will finally break the 18-years-old jinx and win the title this year.
“I hope that we have one of our players win the All-England tournament this time around. We have had good performances by Saina(Nehwal), (P V)Sindhu and (Kidambi) Srikanth has also been in good form. I do expect that we will have a good performance in this year’s All-England,” Gopichand told PTI as reported by Times of India.
“Going in Saina has just won the Indonesian open and Sindhu has also done well. So, I think both of them can do well at the All England as well. Hopefully we will have some good performances from our players. It is almost 18 years now and I hope that this year we can break the jinx,” he added.
The 45-years-old was hopeful of Kidambi Srikanth also making the mark in 2019 after some unimpressive run last year.
