Sport is important for happiness index of India: Gopichand

Mumbai: Star badminton coach Pulella Gopichand highlighted the importance of sport in the country’s education system, during a felicitation ceremony for him and his student PV Sindhu, in Mumbai, on Tuesday.

The felicitation ceremony, which was arranged by the Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA), was attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state Sports minister Vinod Tawde, and MBA president Arun Lakhani.

Speaking during the occasion, Gopichand said, “Somewhere down the line, we have lost the importance of physical movement. In our race to become more and more educated alphabetically, we have lost the fundamentals of physical movement."

The former All England Championship winner also went on to say that the India needs to change its education system in order to let sports play a bigger part in a child’s overall development.

“I think its time we took a look at our education system. Its time we put physical literacy up there. There’s a lot more to sport than medals are. One of the outcomes of playing sport is medals,” continued Gopichand. "If we need our country’s happiness index to go up, sport is fundamental,” he added.

The 42-year-old said that both physical and mental education is necessary for the development of children. Gopichand also took the opportunity to refute earlier media reports on him, saying that he became a professional shuttler because he was 'not good' in studies.

Picking up from where her coach left, Sindhu, who became the first Indian shuttler to win silver at the Olympics, said that it was due the support of her parents that she managed to get to where she is now.

“They were volleyball players, but they didn’t ask me why I chose badminton over volleyball. I feel, because of their support and motivation, I am here today,” said Sindhu.

The Maharashtra government presented Sindhu with a cash reward of Rs 75 lakhs, and Gopichand with a reward of Rs 25 lakhs. Apart from the duo, cash awards were also announced for Olympic bronze medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik and her coach (Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 25 lakhs), and long distance runner Lalita Babar and her coach (Rs 75 lakhs and Rs 25 lakhs).

A cash prize of Rs 50 lakhs was also announced for every Maharashtrian athlete, who represented India at the Rio Games.