Don't make Olympic qualification primary goal, focus on process: Gopichand

Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Tuesday advised Indian players to not to obsess over Paris Olympic qualification urging them to focus on the process without taking unnecessary pressureParis berths will be sealed on April 28 when the Olympic qualification rankings are out with singles players inside the top 16 making the cut I think Olympics is still a long way There are still about eight tournaments to play I dont think its right to go after that as a player Gopichand told reportersI think its too much pressure unnecessarily to start thinking about the race to Paris as a primary role I think its important to stick to the process I think the points the rankings and the qualification will take care of itself Thats how I would want the players to look at itAlso Read IN PHOTOS IND vs AFG 3rd T20I Virat Kohli eyes another milestoneBecause everybody is asking the same question Everyones saying the big one is Paris I think if you do the right things every day Paris will come and we wont have a problemMens doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankiredddy and Chirag Shetty and singles ace HS Prannoy are almost assured of a Paris berth Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth are also fighting for the second spot in mens singlesWhile double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu is scripting a comeback from injury womens doubles pairs Treesa JollyGayatri Gopichand and Ashwini PonnappaTanisha Crasto are also fighting to be inside the top 16 by AprilAs a coach its important that you keep pushing the players and you expect more from the players Gopichand continuedWeve had a great year we had some very good wins in events that matter whether its World Championships whether its the Asian Games I think we did well thereAlso Read IN PHOTOS IND vs AFG 3rd T20I Heres all you need to knowThis year the big one is the Olympics and hopefully we can get a big contingent there and win some good medalsPrannoy real heroIt has been a phenomenal season for HS Prannoy as he won maiden bronze medals at the World Championships and Asian Games besides claiming a maiden Super 500 title at Malaysia MastersHe also played pivotal roles in India winning the Thomas Cup and a silver at Commonwealth Games and Asian Games team events Hes always been somebody whos been levelheaded realistic Gopichand saidYes he was unfortunate He has health issues that sometimes flare up and he has to battle He has understood his body a lot better over the years and its really goodHes always been hovering around there with a performance or two Hes contributed quite a bit whether its Badminton Asia Championships Thomas Cup or Asian Games So Im happy for him and I think he can beat anybodyIt is very impressive He is a real hero in my heart Im proud of him And I think he should be able to claim even more than thatGopi hails playerturnedcoachesFormer CWG medallists RMV Gurusaidutt and Parupalli Kashyap have taken up coaching and training the likes of Prannoy and Srikanth and Gopichand said it is a great sign for Indian badmintonOne of the challenges which I had was at a point I had about 67 players in the top 30 and I wasnt able to be give enough time to each of them So I think this just gives them that freedom to have coaches who are working exclusively for themFor the first time we are seeing some top players coming back directly to the National camp Weve had coaches Im not saying we didnt have Indian coaches before but they were not working with the national team all the timeSo I think it helps that players are turning into coaches I am super happyPriyanshu Rajawat on Tuesday stunned Sen to enter the second round of the India Open super 750 and Gopichand feels he has the weapon to do well in futureHe has the speed Today you might have seen him also have the quality of strokes which are impressive But there is a lot more to it than just having the weaponsHes had some good wins but he needs to be consistent But with a game like that it is not very easy to be consistent But if he gets consistent he could be there for a long time The quicker he stabilises I think itd be very goodThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever