As 14-year-old Pullela Gayatri made her way to her first U-19 title with a 23-21, 21-18 over top seed Purva Barve of Maharashtra.
Pullela Gopichand is no less than a legend in the sport of
Badminton. As good of a player he was, Gopichand's legacy will surely go down
in history as one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport.
Almost single-handedly, the ace former shuttler has
transformed the sport of Badminton in India, and it currently sees both men's
and women's players among the top 3 in the BWF rankings.
Almost the entire current crop of badminton stars in the
country come from the famed Gopichand Academy, trained by the legend himself,
and it is easy to see why the success rate in the sport is so incredibly high.
And now, it seems that the next generation of Gopichand is ready to mix it up
with badminton's best.
Pullela Gopichand's 14-year-old daughter Gayatri Gopichand
has done what many eventually expected, as she has clinched her maiden
All-India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament, which is an U19 singles event.
She got the victory over stiff competition from a talented
bunch of young and upcoming shuttlers. Gayatri's mother, PVV Lakshmi, won the
same crown back in the day, and now sees her daughter emulate her.
Gayatri represented Telangana as her state in the event and
faced Purva Barve of Maharashtra in the final. The final itself was a
high-octane battle, but Gayatri looked in control from the offset and ended up
winning the match as well as the championship 23-21, 21-18.
What makes the victory even more special is the fact that
Gayatri wasn't considered one of the top players when she made her way into the
tournament, not even being among the top 16 seeded entries in the U19 girl's
category.
Purva Barve, her finals opponent, however, was the top seed,
and was widely tipped to win the entire tournament. Gayatri's win, on paper,
may seem to have been written in the stars, but it was far from the case when
she first took to the courts to battle it out against the rest of the pack.
On her way to the championship crown, Gayatri beat the likes
of Ananya Goel, Kanika Kanwal, Malvika Bansod, Ashwini Bhat K and finally Purva
Barve. Her triumph in the U19 category has put Gayatri Gopichand well and truly
on the map, as well as, on the path to hopefully replicating her father's
phenomenal achievements in the sport.
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