“Hunters Academy is scouting Young Talent to Promote and Foster Badminton in India”- Shyam Gopu

Last week in Hyderabad, Hunters Academy organized a first-of-its-kind Under-13 Badminton Championship to scout, train and promote young and talented badminton players in the country. However, the sub-junior championship invited pupils from in and around the city to mark the inauguration of the Hunters Academy on the auspicious occasion of Telangana Formation Day.

In our tete-a-tete conversation with the man behind the cause, Mr. Shyam Gopu, owner and CEO, Hyderabad Hunters, shared his vision, mission and objective of launching a holistic training academy for the young badminton aspirants. About 150 junior players representing state and nationals came forward to exhibit their talent and join the esteemed Hunter Academy. Professional training from the early start will help them rise to the top which otherwise is a far-cry due to lack of specialized coaching centres. “Gopichand has set the benchmark in badminton and other sports of the country, he has been a backbone of this sport and we are honoured to have him today for the inauguration.”

On being asked about the rise of badminton game, Shyam honestly speaks his heart out “Hyderabad is the capital of badminton and it’s important to further promote, scout talent and develop the sport other than the mainstream sports in the country.”- says Gopu. He further adds, “It’s a mandate to add at least one Under-17 badminton player in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) to know the who’s who of the sport and give them an international exposure like Rasika Raje, Lakshya Sen were making waves in the last season.”

The regular sessions will commence on the 1^st June’18 and Hunters Academy is quite optimistic about the initiative, selecting the young talent through a tedious process and inviting senior badminton players like Srikanth Kidambi, PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth etc. to teach and share valuable tips and tricks to them. “It’s important to motivate our youth to take up the sport, undergo professional coaching and develop the sport in all the segments- junior, para and international.” Says the operations head, Hyderabad Hunters, Mr. Vamshi.

Pullela Gopichand is mentoring and extending his coaching expertise to the Hunters Academy, which is the first and foremost training facility of the PBL teams. Gopichand being the core member of the PBL Committee is only the mentor for Hunters Academy, clarified Mr. Vamshi.