Pullela Gopichand's badminton academy to open in Rajasthan next month

New Delhi: National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand is all set to expand his network of coaching facilities by opening an academy in Rajasthan next month.

Gopichand already runs an academy in Hyderabad and was requested to bring up a similar facility in Rajasthan by BJP MP from Jaipur and Olympic silver-medallist shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
"There were many proposals from other state associations for opening academy in the country. There was a request from the Rajasthan association. Basically, we as an academy want to expand," Gopichand said.

"In Rajasthan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore came in touch and a proposal was sent. We wanted to expand so it augured well for us," he added. Gopichand said plans are also there to open academies in other parts of the country.

"We will have new centres coming up in the next few months. There were some discussions with governments from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. We are working on the nitty-gritties. "We are waiting for the Asian Games to get over and after that we will be making a proper announcement. In Rajasthan, it will be operational from next month," he said.

"There is a lot of talent around and if you look at the performance of the academy, it has done well so we wanted to focus on the system as well," he said.