Jwala Gutta’s Sensational Remarks On Chief Coach Pullela Gopichand:- Indian left-handed badminton player Jwala Gutta has slammed the Chief Coach, Pullela Gopichand and made some sensational remarks about him.

The feisty Jwala is all set for a new innings as a coach, selector and administrator. She is a gold medallist in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. In a recent interview, Jwala said, “It will be interesting but difficult for sure. I have always said that doubles is the most ignored segment in Indian badminton. We have three events _ men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles _ and it is very important to have a pool of doubles players. I’m looking forward to the new challenge.”

She further added that Dronacharya awardee Mohammed Arif is the best coach in the country. “Nobody can be like him. One has no words for his dedication and determination as a coach. He shaped the Indian badminton. I am very happy that he is in the Badminton Association of India’s scheme of things now. I will bank on Arif’s experience as a coach. I do not know how good coach I can be but I can be a good administrator or selector. Of course, it is a learning process for me to evolve as a coach. There are no doubles players to coach first of all as there are very limited pairs in the country. We have one good pair in each event. That is not a good sign.”

Jwala said her focus will be to increase the bench strength in the country. “It is seven years since I won the gold medal in the Delhi Commonwealth Games and have been World No.6. Sadly, there is no achievement in the doubles since then. I was the top doubles player in the country for 19 years ever since I made my debut in 1999.”

When asked about her relations with     Pullela Gopichand, Jwala stated that she has no problem with the Chief National Coach. “There is no question of me liking or not liking Gopichand. I had certain expectation from him as a chief coach. I was the number one player of the country in doubles for 18 years.’’ “Gopichand did not treat me as number one player at all. “He did not give due credit or respect to me. I won a lot of tournaments. I was in the final of Super Series tournament and was in the semifinals of China and Korea Super Series tournaments. I won a bronze medal in World Championship. It was a big achievement but we were never given the due recognition. He was not the chief coach of singles only but he was overall chief coach of BAI,” added Jwala.

She said she is expecting support from Gopichand. “He should understand the importance of doubles. I am optimistic. I have never meddled with his work and hopefully he does not interfere with my doubles. Both should work for the development of doubles combinations in the country.”

Jwala said her aim would be to promote doubles players in the country. “We have seen the rise of singles players in the country but that is not the case in doubles. I want to change that. My mission would be to promote doubles players in the country. People might think I am biased towards doubles but people should expect that. I would like to hear a lot about doubles in the future.”

“I would like to increase the strength of doubles players in the national camp. If you observe, Japan had four pairs of doubles players in the draw, China four, Korea four and we have only one pair and we expect miracles from them. When I was playing there was one pair and now also it is the same scenario. We want an army of doubles players as there was no opportunity for them in the past.”

She felt that the new combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy need to work hard as a combination. “There is still a long way to go. Sikki has to learn to finish off a match. There is nothing much to do with strokes right now but they need to work on their tactics that is where they are missing I thought. They should be clever.’’

SUPRAJA