Ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu, who captured the imagination of the
entire nation by winning a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, has ignored
Telangana Deputy
Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali's offer for a 'better coach',
saying that her current guru Pullela Gopichand is the 'best coach' for
her.
"I feel Gopi sir is the best coach. I have been training under him
since I was 10. I don't have to say anything about it (minister's
comment)," Sindhu told ANI.
Her comments came after Ali triggered an outrage on social media with
his statement that the 21-year-old lanky shuttler may be provided a
'better coach' so that so could fetch gold in the next Olympics at
Tokyo.
Sindhu received a rousing welcome on her arrival in her home town and
was felicitated by the Telangana government for her stellar performance
at the Rio Games.
Considered as one of the country's finest shuttlers, Gopichand has
produced an array of top-class shuttlers, including 2012 London Olympics
bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and K Srikanth, a quarterfinalist in Rio de Janeiro.
Despite producing a spirited performance in the opening game, Sindhu
lost the pulsating women's singles badminton final against Spain's Carolina Marin 21-19, 12-21, 15-21 to settle for the silver medal.
With the feat, Sindhu has also become the fifth Indian woman to clinch a
medal in Olympics history after Karnam Malleswari, Mary Kom, Saina
Nehwal and Sakshi Malik.