German Open win will instill new life in Arvind Bhat's career: Pullela Gopichand

Indian chief national coach Pullela Gopichand on Monday described shuttler Arvind Bhat's performance in German Open as "phenomenol" and said the title victory has handed a new lease of life to his international badminton career.

Two-time former national champion, Arvind Bhat, 34, became the second Indian male shuttler after K Srikanth to win a Grand Prix gold title outside the country when he defeated Danish Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in the final of the singles competition of the USD 120,000 German Open in Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany on Sunday night.

"It is a fantastic victory. I think it is one of the best wins for men's singles. I think the quality of the tournament was fantastic and Arvind having won it out of nowhere is an amazing performance," Gopichand told PTI.

"I think he had some matches against good players. He was leading against Srikanth during Indian Open. He also had some bad luck. But to come out of it and to win such an important tournament is phenomenol," he added.

The 2001 All England champion said it is "tough" on the body to go through the rigours and recover during such a top class tournament.

"It is tough. Winning one match is okay but to actually win all of them is excellent. I am very happy his body lasted the entire tournament and he recovered well. I feel he has a couple of years more and he can get a couple of big wins under his belt," said Gopichand, who had reached the final of the same event way back in 1999.

"I definetely think it is a big boost to his career. He doesn't have any more injuries and I think the confidence that such a win gives is remarkable. I think the entire men's singles brigade will take positives out of this victory," he added.

Asked about the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, Gopichand said: "This victory will hold him in good stead."