Saina Nehwal to Split With Coach Pullela Gopichand
Saina Nehwal, who lost in the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championships last week, is set to train with former international Vimal Kumar.
It is nothing new for top sportspersons to split with their coaches after fruitful associations. Andy Murray did recently with Ivan Lendl and now India's badminton queen Saina Nehwal is going to part ways with long-term coach Pullela Gopichand. Saina, who lost in the quarters of the World Badminton Championships in Denmark last week, is set to train with former India coach Vimal Kumar ahead of the Asian Games later this month.
Saina's father Dr Harvir Singh has confirmed that she is moving to Bangalore to train under Vimal Kumar for next two weeks before leaving for Asian Games on September 15. Dr Singh said: "The split is not because of any differences with Gopichand but for a change."
The 'split' was finalised in Denmark after Saina failed to breach the quarter-final barrier for the fifth time. Gopichand agreed to let Saina train for the Incheon Games.
Gopichand's attention in recent times has been divided between upcoming stars PV Sindhu K Srikanth.
This is not the first time that Saina and Gopichand have split. In 2011, Saina trained under Baskar Babu for three months. The world No.7, who regretted the decision, returned to Gopichand who helped her win bronze medal in the London Olympics in 2012. The 24-year-old has been training under the former All-England Champion since 2006.