Name of the sportsperson: Pullela Gopichand
Discipline: Badminton
State: Andhra Pradesh
Date of Birth: 16th Nov 1973

Major Achievements:

- Won All England Badminton Championship 2001.
- Second position in Indian Grand Prix in 1997.
- Second position in German Grand prix 1999.
- Winner Touleze Open Tournament in 1999.
- Asian Sattelite tournament in 1999.

Profile:

Pullela Gopichand was born on 16 November 1973 in Nagandla of Prakasham District, Andhra Pradesh to Pullela Shubhash Chandra. His elder brother who himself was a badminton player brought him into badminton.Talented Gopichand started making mark on the local level when he was in school itself.

In 1986 when he was thirteen years of age he sustained a ligament injury. Undettered with the injury he reached the final of the Andhra pradesh Junior state championship. He lost the final to his own brother. After school he made his mark in the universitity tournaments also. He captained the Indian Combined University team in 1990 and 1991.

Extremely talented Gopichand knocked the door of National Badminton in 1990. He under the coaching of legend Prakash Padukone won his first National Badminton Title in 1996. He repeated this performance five times in a row till 2000. In 1998 he won two gold medal and one silver in Imphal National Games. The same year, Gopichand spearheaded the state team to win the famous Rehmetullah Cup.

Gopichand made his debut into International Badminton in the year 1991 when he was selected to play against Malaysia. In his International Badminton career, he represented the nation in 3 Thomas Cup tournaments. In the year 1996 he grabbed a Gold Medal in the SAARC Badminton Tournament held at Vijayawada, and repeated the victory in the same tournament held at Colombo in 1997. At the Commonwealth Games, he won a Silver Medal in the team event and a Bronze Medal in the singles event.

He was able to get his first big boost up at International level in the year 1997 in the Indian Grand Prix Tournament held at Delhi. At the event, Gopichand continuously defeated an array of top-seeded players from all around the world, although he lost in the Final Match. In the year 1999, he won the Toulouze Open Championship in France, and the Scottish Open Championship in Scotland.

Continuing his smashing form, he emerged winner at the Asian Satellite tournament held at Hyderabad the same year, and lost in the Final match of the German Grand Prix Championship.

The most proud moment of Gopichand's life came when he became the only Indian after Padukone to win the coveted All England Championship in 2001. He defeated many high progile and top ranked players to win the title. His hard fought win against the then world number 1 Peter Gade in the semi finals is still considered as his best performance in his career.He easily overcame the Chinese opponent Chen Hong 15-12,15-6 to lift the trophy.

For his contribution to Indian Sports he has received several awards. He was awarded with Arjuna Award in 1999 by the Government of India. After the All England win he received the highest sports Honour of India the Rajiv Ghandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2001. In the year 2005 he was conferred Padma Shree by the Government.

After retiring he opened a badminton academy in Hyderabaad which has yeilded many national and international players. He is also the coach of the world number 2 Indian shutler Saina Nehwal. For his contribution as coach he was awarded the Dronacharya Award in 2009.