Are sub-par fitness levels holding new Indians back? Pullela Gopichand’s All England throwback offers pointers
In the end, it might take that crosscourt half-smash that’s not been played the whole match, the floaters to midcourt on the backhand, the short angle flick serve, the counter-dribble to force an opponent to hit into the net after being surprised. But to get to those moments from 25 years ago, when Pullela Gopichand finally defeated Peter Gade at the All England semifinals in 2001, can take an almighty physical effort. Technique, tactics, and tenacity won him the coveted title back then. And videos will capture the epic drama that went into finally winning the one big ring to school them all. But interspersed in his story of triumph, often written over by his tale as a coach, are the nuggets on what went into culminating in that one title as a player. 150 kg squats, recalls his former SAI coach Ganguly Prasad, though he adds a caveat up front: weight training alone can’t make you a champion if the technique is all over the place. But for each descriptive passage on Gopichand’s badminton …
