National coach Gopi Chand, who revolutionized Indian badminton, achieved glory at all levels including the recent Thomas Cup win, calling it “a very joyous journey”.
National coach Gopi Chand, who revolutionized Indian badminton, achieved glory at all levels including the recent Thomas Cup win, calling it “a very joyous journey”.
They are two of the best champions we have in Indian sports. It was no surprise that when P. Gopi Chand and Narayan Karthikeyan opened up about their journey, it was a mesmerizing sight for the audience at the World Summit for Ethics and Leadership in Sports on Friday.
National coach Gopi Chand, who revolutionized Indian badminton, achieved glory at all levels including the recent Thomas Cup win, calling it “a very joyous journey”.
The Dronacharya and Arjuna Awardee, who won the All England Championship after three knee surgeries, said, “I got a chance to do what I wanted to do. I always counted my blessings. From the outside, it may seem like hard work, but I never felt it as a challenge. At every step I felt that the next step was possible.”
Narain Karthikeyan, the country’s first to drive in Formula 1, set his example to advise young drivers and players, “Never take anything for granted”.
Narayan recalled how he missed a golden opportunity at the age of 22 with a “stupid mistake”.
It was the F3 World Cup in Macau, when a lot was at stake, and Narine was confident and at his best.
“At the time I thought F1 was there the next two weeks! I was in pole position. Seven seconds faster. I had an incredible lap. I gave it my all. I broke the lap record five times. But, fitness part of which I took lightly. In lap seven, there was a slight loss of concentration. It was street circuit. I had negotiated that collision hundreds of times, but on the same collision, I crashed over the barrier, it’s game over It was done”, said Narayan.
This caused great sadness, as Ayrton Senna in 1983 and Michael Schumacher in 1990 moved to F1 shortly after winning the same F3 World Cup. Narine had to wait another five years after the race to Macau to make his F1 debut in Australia.
“Such a stupid mistake. It was very difficult for me. I had so many contracts, and people started turning away. We live and learn”, said Narayan, looking at the positive side, “if you really want it If so, you can do it”.
He won the next race, but it didn’t matter, as the opportunity was lost when all the teams were looking for talent in Macau.
On being a successful coach, Gopi said that after taking coaching he turned the mirror to himself and started asking himself, “Is it good for the player”.
On talking to the players at the right time, Gopi said, “When you talk to the players after they win, they talk with confidence.
Asked for advice for the youth, Gopi said, “We don’t know how far we can go. So, give it the best shot”.
Narain said his example would help others gain the confidence to venture into F1.
“Aim big, dream big. You will reach there someday”, he said.
Many others, including Yogeshwar Dutt, Akhil Kumar and Bilkis Mir, made interesting points. All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Choubey said the sport is being made accessible to lakhs of students across the country with the support of the government and FIFA, the world body that gives one million footballs.
“We would not have the expertise to deliver those footballs. We can benefit 26 crore students from government and Navodaya schools, Choubey said.