Pillar of badminton, Arif, ignored by Gopi and two Govts!

(S.Ravi Seshu)
Amidst the din and bustle of pompous felicitation ceremonies organised by two Telugu States one after another with regional jingoistic fervour for the Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu and her guru Pullela Gopichand, an important person was completely forgotten, wittingly or unwittingly. He is none other than Dronacharya SM Arif, who laid foundation for badminton in Hyderabad. Lo and behold, Arif sir is the guru of All India England Badminton champion Gopichand, the high profile guru of almost all top badminton players in India.

A simpleton with tons of passion and zeal, Arif Sir should be credited for the popularity of the game in Hyderabad. Having earned a Diploma in Badminton coaching from National Institute of Sports in Patiala, he joined the national panel of coaches in 1974 and he was appointed as the National Chief Badminton Coach, the position Gopi is holding now. At the age of 72 now, Arif sir comes to Lal Bahadur Stadium without fail to share tips to the budding players.

Gopi had approached Arif Sir when he was 11 and learnt nuances from him. The former Indian National Badminton champion PVV lakshmi, Gutta Jwala and Saina Nehwal (all Olympians) were the trainees of Arif Sir. After getting into the big league, thanks to the support of the then Telugu Desam Party government led by N.Chandrababu Naidu, Gopi got a kind of stardom. Somehow a gap begun to develop between the two but they don’t utter a single word against each other in public. “I think it is nothing but an ego clash. Gopi didn’t give the full credit to Arif ji as Sindhu is giving to him now after winning All England championship,” a veteran sports journalist said recollecting as to how the guru extended moral support when Gopi was injured during a crucial phase of his career.

Arif Sir was completely cold shouldered by Gopi and his wife PVV Lakshmi after they got their spacious academy in sprawling campus in Gachibowli in Hyderabad. Gopi gained a stronghold on Indian badminton after his trainee Saina Nehwal registered some international victories, including a bronze medal in London Olympics in 2012. We are not sure whether Arif Sir was invited to major training programmes or ceremonies in Pullela Gopichand-Nimmagadda Prasad Badminton Academy, the hub of Indian badminton right now.

Saina walked out of the academy to get trained under Bangalore-based Vimal Kumar and Gutta Jwala turned out to be a bitter critique of Gopi from the beginning. Arif Sir always stood by the rebellious shuttler all along as the points raised by her seem to be genuine. He believed that Jwala needs a better deal.

When Badminton Association of India acted tough with Jwala during Badminton League, Arif ji was with her and both of them addressed a press conference too showing Gopi in poor light. Till date, the doubles specialist Jwala takes pride in getting trained by Arif Sir in LB stadium. Gopi never comes to that side.

In this joyous moment of Indian badminton, Arif Sir indeed deserves a pat on his back. “Giving due credit to Arif ji is not a sin. His services to the field of badminton are highly appreciable. Being the guru of Sindhu, Gopi should have humbly invited his guru for these felicitation functions. If he doesn’t wish to invite, at least he should have mentioned his name in his speeches. Let alone Gopi, what about the sports officials. Don’t they have the responsibility to recall the unsung hero?,” pointed out a keen observer of all sports and promoter of a sports academy in Hyderabad.

Similarly, a sports journalist pointed out that Sindhu is also not making any mention of her first guru Mahabub Ali.

After a long gap, Gopi and Arif met during Badminton Asia Team Championship at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in February 2016.