Gopichand and Siyadatullah: Men's Badminton Coach who turned the story for India in Thomas Cup

The departure of Indonesian coach Agus Santoso might have motivated Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy to give their best performance as neither of them was beaten in the tournament. Lakshya Sen trains in Bangalore with U Vimal Kumar, and the other singles players train at the Gopichand Academy. Pureland Gopichand honed Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Prannoy and others to be top-level competitors.

Gopichand and Siyadatullah have actively honed the Indian team

In the history of Indian badminton, India's Thomas Cup victory is arguably the most significant moment for the country. Indian men have found glory independent of the formidable Indian women shuttlers, and the victory has been compared to Kapil Dev-led Team India's historic win at the 1983 World Cup. As Gopichand had excessive responsibility on his shoulders overseeing Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and about six men's singles players, separate foreign coaches were arranged with the help of SAI and BAI. However, the new coaches received lucrative offers from other countries and left much to the management's dismay. 

After Agus' departure in 2021, Gopichand and Siyadatullah had no choice but to train the players on their own accord, which proved beneficial for both sides. Siyadat has been around since the academy started in 2006 and was Sindhu's coach during her formative years. The players feel secure in their game due to his expertise and look up to him for advice during matches. Siyadat revealed that it had been 15 years since he started travelling with them for tournaments. The last eight months of his life were dedicated to training them well under the guidance of Gopichand. Siyadat looked after the men's singles players and guided them courtside.

Does Badminton India require foreign coaches? 

The singles players and the doubles unit also benefitted from the duo's assistance. The doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been training without a foreign coach since February 2021. Denmark's Mathias Boe made a few appearances before the Tokyo Olympics and returned a couple of weeks to help them again before the Thomas Cup. The teams also trained with Arun Vishnu and Vijaydeep Singh. According to a BAI official, foreign coaches do not spend much time in India whenever they get lucrative offers, citing some family problems. Their coaches work incredibly hard but do not receive much credit for their contribution. As of now, Now Mulyo Hondoyo and Kim Tan Her are attempting to come back. However, they are assured of their capacity and have complete faith in their coaches, so external help might not be needed.