I drew the lessons from my personal experiences: Gopichand

“There are no shortcuts to success. What I am talking to you today is not something that I read in books, but the lessons I drew from my personal experiences”, said Pullela Gopichand. Gopichand spoke to the media on the launch of CDK Corporate Global Badminton League, 2016, fourth edition. As the associate with this edition, he addressed employees at CDK Global for a Leadership Talk in Hyderabad. The talk was attended by 400 associates of the organization – 200 in Hyderabad and 200 in Pune via live video conference.

After the talk Pullela Gopichand along with Reddy Malledi, Managing Director – CDK Global,and the senior leadership team unveiled the T-shirts for CDK Global Corporate Badminton League (CBL) that was to be held at Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in

the first week of November.

Gopichand recollected his personal experiences from his memory lane. “My journey was very tough. I had my own share of injuries, particularly the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury. Nobody has recovers easily with that kind of injuries. But, I bounced back within six months”, Gopichand told them. He quoted a friend who had advised him that – “no matter how many times you fail, get up quick, and get back to the sport", he remembered fondly.

“Another lesson that I learnt was to visualize about success. I went to the Olympics with that thought in mind. But, I couldn’t win in the Olympics. But when I went to subsequent tournaments without any expectations, I won. I was tested for my endurance. Finally, I got what I wanted to achieve. This taught me that you get success not when you want it, but when you deserve it”, he said.

He talked about how he financially suffered to built his academy. “Corporate houses had funds for a lot of welfare activities but no funds for sports in those days. I had to mortgage my home at Jubilee Hills to set up the Badminton Academy at Gachibowli. I asked for support from many organizations, but nothing worked out. I thank my family and wife for allowing me to mortgage our home for the academy. If we had not taken that risk then, we wouldn’t have the academy which you’re seeing today”.

Sharing how much his supporters meant to him, he said, “When I set up the academy it was a challenge. Each time you are confronted with a challenge, reinvent yourself. Whenever I had a problem, there were people to help me – my teachers and supporters. With their support, the academy has produced many top 20 ranking players today.”

As the session is ending, he answered questions by the participants. On asking about how he finds talent in players, he said, "If talent was that easy to be identified, we all would have focused on it. But it is not so. As a coach it is my continuous effort to identify talent and nurture it.”

“I believed in Sindhu’s ability as a player. As a coach, my job was to see that she continued her top performance always. I went prepared to the Olympics. I carried a blazer not to wear in Rio, but to wear on our return to the city. As a coach, if I hadn’t believed, how could I make Sindhu believe”, he added.

He ended the session with the strong quote saying, “The more you know, the more you will realize what you don’t know."