Saina Nehwal's medal in London Olympics is biggest moment in Indian badminton: Pullela Gopichand

The year 2016 brings Olympics with it and India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand said Saina Nehwal's bronze medal in London 2012 was the best thing to have happened to Indian badminton.

"For me personally, the medal we won in London was one of the biggest moments for Indian badminton. To better it (in Rio de Janeiro) would be great. Even otherwise, to have a bigger contingent gives us a chance of a medal because I believe all of our players who qualify will stand a (good) chance to win a medal," Gopichand said here on Wedenesday.

Gopichand, however, refused to comment on the kind of pressure Saina might be facing as she gears up for Rio Olympics.

"I don't want to really comment on that. She has a different coach and I would let them handle that," said Gopichand.

Gopichand guided Saina to India's lone badminton medal in Olympics till date but since the second half of 2014, the world No. 2 women's singles player has shifted base from Hyderabad to Bengaluru to train with Vimal Kumar at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy.

He added that while there is still time for the Olympics, it would not be wise to take any medal for granted.

"I don't think we can take any medal for granted. If we prepare really well and play really well, we can achieve that," Gopichand said.

"As far as the (Rio) Olympics is concerned, it is a little early to say," he said. "Olympics is a less stronger event than, say, a Superseries event and our players are capable of great performances. If you have two good matches, then you are in for a medal. The field is smaller. Definitely we have a good chance as each one of them has shown that they are capable of beating the top players."

"But, there are still months before the qualification for Rio Olympics. The first challenge is the qualification. Once that is achieved, we can talk about the next stage. Having said that, we have the Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow in January, Badminton Asia Championships in Hyderabad in February, All England Championships in March, India Open Superseries in Delhi in March-April, Thomas and Uber Cups in May. These are the big events in which we have a chance to gauge ourselves (leading to Rio)."

The former All England champion shuttler said he was pleased with Indian shuttlers in 2015 but for some inconsistency.

"We have had good performances from many of the players in 2015 but I wish we could have had more consistent performances. The players needed to mature. Some of them need to be stronger physically and some, stronger mentally.

"By and large, with the kind of schedule they have and the injuries they have, they have been a little inconsistent. But I think we will get that consistency soon," he said.

The 42-year-old is in the city for the Premier Badminton League (PBL) that begins here on January 2 and ends in New Delhi on January 17 with the six franchise teams also playing in Lucknow, Hyderabad and Bengaluru in a league-cum-knockout format.

On Wednesday, he was present at the unveiling of city franchise Mumbai Rockets' logo and colours in the presence of some of the key players including men's singles world No. 20 HS Prannoy and world No. 47 RMV Gurusaidutt, and Denmark's men's doubles world No. 4 Mathias Boe.

Asked how different is PBL from the Indian Badminton League that was held in August 2013 before being discontinued, Gopichand said: "I would not want to compare them now. Maybe after the event. I am excited about the event. We have great players in the loop, some good matches lined up. A lot of Indian players have come up from the previous league till now. It will be an interesting and a keenly-fought PBL, I would think," he offered.

He said that three will be "a lot of sharing of experience between the players" from India and other countries during the league.

TRUMP MATCH

A new system introduced into the league is the Trump Match to make the ties more interesting. Every team will have to nominate any of its five matches as its Trump Match. The winning team gets a bonus point (plus 1) while the losing team is deducted a point (minus 1) in the Trump Match.

The two teams have to nominate its trump match one-and-a-half hours prior to the tie. A tie comprises Men's Singles, Men's Doubles, Women's Singles, Mixed Doubles and again Men's Singles. The two teams may nominate the same match as its trump.

Explaining about the Trump Match, Gopichand said: "The Trump Match ensures that the last two matches are also important even if a side is leading 3-0. There is never a case where the fourth or the fifth match becomes inconsequential. A team that has 3-0 lead can still lose. This keeps the spectators interested till the last point of the last match. There cannot be a possibility of a draw."

This is a new phenomenon that the players and the spectators alike will have to get used to. Gopichand explained: "It needs to be seen how the players react to the extra pressure. Some play better under pressure and some others crack. A team is allowed to put a 'trump' on a player twice in the league stage, that is, in five ties. However, in the knockouts (combined semifinals and the final), the team is allowed to put a trump on a player only once.

That is, no same player can be a trump in both the semifinal and final."

World No. 4 men's doubles player Mathias Boe of Denmark and Mumbai Rockets, said: "I have not tried a trump match. It is always exciting to try new things."

Mumbai Rockets' coach, Chandigarh-born Canada national coach Ram Nayyar said: "I have not seen anything of this sort. In Canada, we have fun leagues of different formats but nothing of this sort."

WHAT THEY SAID:

HS PRANNOY:
"It is going to be really helpful for youngsters. Not many youngsters can play Superseries events in badminton. They can watch and learn from top players like Lee Chong Wei and Mathias Boe. It will be a great learning experience for them all. At Mumbai Rockets, we have got a really balanced team. There are two singles players in me and RMV Gurusaidutt. We have two doubles players in Boe and Vladimir Ivanov. Let's see how it goes when the matches start."

MATHIAS BOE:
"In Denmark, we have our own league, which was very important in my badminton career. At 16-17, I got to play wit the senior players in the league. It is an inspiration to junior players and help them develop their game. All the teams are very equal. Whoever gets the best on the day will come out winners. Our team is strong and we need to start well on home soil, win both the ties (vs Awadhe Warriors on January 2 and vs Chennai Smashers on January 3), or at least one of them. That will bring confidence for further matches."

PULLELA GOPICHAND:
"All the teams look very strong on paper. It's going to be a challenge to predict the winner. Teams are well-balanced. I am expecting a lot of fireworks. The league actually helps a lot of young and aspiring players to compete against the big names in the world. It's exciting for the crowd too. We have players like Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia, Hyderabad Hunters), Boe, Ivanov, (Joachim) Fischer. Each day you will see a Saina Nehwal) playing, a PV Sindhu playing or a world champion playing or an Olympic medallist playing. That's the standard. To have it in different cities, for example to see a Saina play or Lee play, is fantastic. It will encourage kids to watch.