Here's how Gopichand's mother helped Sindhu and Srikanth build a never-say-die attitude

PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth emerged as two of the brightest stars of India's Rio campaign, and while all are praising their coach Pullela Gopichand for his exemplary guidance, the Dronacharya awardee's mother played a crucial role in motivating the shuttlers.

While Sindhu became the first shuttler from the country to win a silver medal at the quadrennial event, Srikanth punched above his weight and reached the quarter-finals before bowing out to Chinese great Lin Dan in three games.

Often it was noticed that both Sindhu and Srikanth fought back after being down by a healthy margin of points and Gopichand revealed the reason behind it. “People who watched Srikanth and Sindhu so motivated on the court kept on asking me what was the secret behind their attitude. We did a couple of things to get motivated. My mother told me to make everyone sing the National anthem before the matches. We did that and it was quite motivating," Gopichand was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

National anthems do unite and charge up individuals and that's the reason why those are played before the start of team sports. Now, by adopting the same strategy, Gopichand and his wards got their act together. That's the way to go.