Pullela Gopichand Biography 
Pullela Gopichand is an Indian sportsman who plays the game of badminton. He is a talented badminton player and was awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for his sporting talents in 2001. His highest ranking in the world in men’s singles was 5 as of 15th March 2001.
Pullela Gopichand was born on 16th November 1973 in Nagandla of Prakasam District of Andhra Pradesh. His father’s name is Pullela Shubhash Chandra and his mother’s name is Subbaravamma. He has one elder brother named Rajashekar. He completed his schooling at the St. Paul’s School. He married P. V. V. Lakshmi on 5th June 2002 who is also a badminton player.
Initially he was interested in playing cricket but later he was redirected to badminton by his brother. He has won the singles and doubles title at the inter school competition when he was 13 years old. His elder brother is also a badminton player and in the Andhra Pradesh State Junior Badminton Championship, he entered the finals and lost the title to his own brother.
After he completed his schooling he joined A. V. College at Hyderabad and got his graduation in Public Administration. He served as the Captain of the Indian Combined Universities Badminton team in 1990 and 1991. Initially he was coached by S. M. Arif and later he joined the BPL Prakash Padukone Academy. At the Sports Authority of India at Bangalore he was coached by Ganguly Prasad.
He consecutively won the National Badminton Championship title for five years from 1996 to 2000. At the National Games 1998 held at Imphal he won two gold medals and one silver medal. He entered international badminton in 1991 and represented India in the international tournament many times. He got gold medal in the SAARC badminton tournament held at Vijayawada in 1996. He also bagged gold medal in the tournament held at Colombo in 1997.
He won silver medal in the team event and bronze medal in the singles event in the Commonwealth Games. He could reach up to the finals in the Indian Grand Prix Tournament held at Delhi in 1997. He won the Toulouze Open Championship in France in 1999 and Scottish Open Championship in Scotland. He also won the Asian Satellite tournament held at Hyderabad in 1999.
He won the prestigious 2001 All England Open Badminton Championships at London. He received Arjuna Award in 1999 and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2001 from the Government of India. The Government of Andhra Pradesh honored him by offering cash prize and a plot in the Jubilee Hills of Hyderabad. He received Padma Shri Award in 3005 and Dronocharya Award on 29th August 2009.
His biography was written by the former badminton player Sanjay Sharma and Shachi Sharma in 2012 titled Pullela Gopichand: The World Beneath His Feet’. He is running the Gopichand Badminton Academy giving coaching to several Indian youths.
Published: N/A
Updated: December 25, 2012
