Pullela Gopichand

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Pullela Gopichand (born on November 16, 1973 in Nalgonda, Andhra Pradesh) is an Indian Badminton player.

He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001 defeating Chen Hong of China in the finals. He became the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone, who won it in 1980. He was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2000-2001. But later on, his game was affected due to injuries and his ranking dropped to 126 in the year 2003. In the year 2002, he refused to endorse a soft drink major as it meant that he would be encouraging people to consume a product which he himself thought was unsafe. In 2005, he was awarded the Padma Shri.

Now, he runs the Pullela Gopichand badminton academy.

[edit] External links

• BWF Profile
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