Rio silver medallist P V Sindhu reacted to Telangana Deputy Chief Minister, Mohd Mahmood Ali's statement in which the latter spoke about the possibility of the state government providing a new coach to the shuttler, so that she performs even better.
"Our Telangana daughter has earned a name in the entire world. We intend to give a very good coach to Sindhu going forward. Her (present) coach (Pullela Gopichand) is also very good. But in addition to that, going forward in any international match, we are sure that she will bring a gold medal," Ali was quoted as saying by electronic media.
Sindhu was however quick to end the speculation of being coached by anyone else other than Gopichand. "I feel Gopi sir is the best coach," said Sindhu on Telangana deputy CM's 'proper coaching' comment.
Ali's reported statement went viral on social media, with many seeing it as an "insult" to Gopichand, a former All England Badminton Champion who runs an academy at Gachibowli in Hyderabad where Sindhu has trained.
Ali's office later clarified that "it's a generalised statement and he was quoted out of context. What he meant was to have international coaches for better performance of players from Telangana. He did not mean anything against Gopichand."
(With agency inputs)
