Gayatri Gopichand is an Indian badminton player who is known for being the daughter of the noted Indian badminton player Pullela Gopichand.
Wiki/Biography
Gayatri Gopichand Pullela was born on Tuesday, 4 March 2003 (age 19 years; as of 2022) in Hyderabad, Telangana. Her zodiac sign is Pisces. She did her schooling at Glendale Academy, Hyderabad. At the age of 7, she started her training in badminton under her parents.
A childhood picture of Gayatri Gopichand with her parents and brother
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Her father, Pullela Gopichand, is a renowned former Indian badminton player and chief national coach of the Indian national badminton team. His mother, P.V.V. Lakshmi, is a former badminton player. Her younger brother, Sai Vishnu Pullela, is a badminton player too.
Gayatri Gopichand with her parents
Gayatri Gopichand with her parents and brother
Other Relative(s)
Her grandfather’s name is Pullela Subash Chandra, and her grandmother’s name is Pullela Subbaravamma.
Career
At an early age, Gayatri started participating in various badminton championships in women’s singles and doubles categories. When she was around 15 years old, she became India’s no. 1 in the ‘under-17 age group.’ She then participated in badminton competitions at the Asian Games, Jakarta (2018), and South Asian Games, Nepal (2019). At her father’s badminton academy ‘Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad, her coach Arun Vishnu paired her with Treesa Jolly (badminton player) for women’s doubles. The duo performed in many national and international tournaments. The pairing turned out to be successful, and they won several medals for India in the women’s doubles category.
Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly
Some of the tournaments in which she has participated are:
- 2022: Yonex-Sunrise India Open
- 2022: Perodua Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 2022: Totalenergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals, Bangkok, Thailand
- 2022: Yonex Swiss Open, Basel, Switzerland
- 2022: Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships, Birmingham, England
- 2022: Yonex Gainward German Open, Muelheim An Der Ruhr, Germany
- 2022: Odisha Open, Cuttack, India
- 2022: Syed Modi India International, Lucknow, India
- 2022: Yonex-Sunrise India Open, New Delhi, India
Controversy
Accused of Nepotism
In the initial years of her career, she was teamed with the Indian badminton player Vaishnavi in the women’s doubles category. In 2018, Vaishnavi’s parents’ accused Gayatri and her father of nepotism and said that Pullela chose his daughter over Vaishnavi only because Vaishnavi was capable of defeating Gayatri. Later, a few other badminton players accused Pullela of favouritism.
Medals
Gold
- 2018: Kerala State Junior Junior State Ranking Badminton Championship
- 2021: Infosys International Challenge
- 2021: India International Challenge (Women’s doubles) with Treesa Jolly
Gayatri Gopichand on winning India International Challenge 2021 along with Treesa Jolly
- 2022: Odisha Open (Women’s doubles) in Super 100 with Treesa Jolly
Silver
- 2019: BWF International Challenge/Series Nepal International (Women’s singles)
- 2019: South Asian Games (Women’s singles), Badminton Covered Hall, Pokhara, Nepal
- 2021: Polish International (Women’s doubles) with Treesa Jolly
- 2021: India International Challenge (Mixed doubles) with K. Sai Pratheek
- 2021: Welsh International (Women’s doubles) with Treesa Jolly
- 2022: Syed Modi International (Women’s doubles) in Super 300 with Treesa Jolly
Favourites
- Badminton Player(s): Chen Long, Tai Tzu Ying, Kento Momoto
Facts/Trivia
- Gayatri loves to listen to music, sing, dance, and watch Hindi & English films whenever she gets free time from her training sessions.
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
