Gopichand to train Greater Noida children
The Greater Noida authority is to sign an agreement with former badminton player Pullela Gopichand to coach children in the city.
The Greater Noida authority is all set to sign an agreement with former badminton player Pullela Gopichand to coach children in the city.
Gopichand, who won the 2001 England Open Badminton Championship, will start the classes from July 15.
“We will sign a memorandum of understanding with Gopichand Badminton Academy in the next 15-20 days. The Greater Noida authority and Gopichand have agreed on 90% of the terms and conditions and the agreement will be signed in the next couple of weeks. The remaining 10% conditions, related to finance, will be worked out soon,” said Deepak Agarwal, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Greater Noida authority.
Gopichand will provide tips on badminton. He will take three-four classes in a month.
The classes will be held at the newly built cricket stadium in Greater Noida. The stadium has a badminton hall of international standards.
“Gopichand will take classes for three-four days in a month. On other days, coaches from Gopichand Badminton Academy will take classes. After finalising the deal with Gopichand, we will look for coaches for lawn tennis as well. We want to rope in the best coaches to train children,” Agarwal said.
The Greater Noida stadium is located next to Jaypee Resort and is spread across 39 acres. The ground hosted a Ranji cricket match between Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara in December 2015.
The stadium was declared the home ground for the Afghanistan under 19 cricket team in December 2015 after the Greater Noida authority, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Afghanistan Cricket Board signed a memorandum of understanding in Delhi.
The Afghanistan team has been practising in the stadium for the past two months.
Former Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who is the coach for the Afghanistan team, has also visited the stadium.
On October 21, 2015, Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden and chairman of the Indian Premier League Rajiv Shukla also visited the stadium.