Pullela Gopichand Badminton player
Pullela Gopichand is an Indian Badminton player. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001 defeating Chen Hong of China in the finals by 15-12,15-6. 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 2001. But later on, his game was affected due to injuries and his ranking dropped to 126 in the year 2003. In 2005, he was awarded the Padma Shri. In 2012, former Indian Badminton player Sanjay Sharma & Shachi Sharma have written a biography on him titled " Pullela Gopichand: The World Beneath His Feet. " Now, he runs the Gopichand Badminton Academy. He is now a very renowned coach who received the Dronacharya Award and is the main force behind the emergence of Saina Nehwal.