World championship medallist Sai Praneeth, and Gopichand’s right-hand man Siyaduttullah, eye greener pastures in USA as coaches

B Sai Praneeth won India a badminton men’s singles World Championship bronze in 2019, after a gap of 36 years. And Mohammed Siyaduttullah was guiding Kidambi Srikanth from the coach’s chair when he beat Lin Dan to win the China Open in 2014. The two soft-spoken, high-achieving Hyderabadis, who were at the Pullela Gopichand academy from Day 1, will soon call the USA their home, as they relocate in the coming days, taking up coaching opportunities in the country that hosts the LA Olympics in 2028.

Sai, India’s Tokyo Olympian says at 32, he could’ve plodded on the circuit for another two years, chasing smaller titles, but reckoned the time was right to make the shift. Moving to a club in Cary city of North Carolina, Sai said he was desperate for a change after having “lived the pressure life of an elite athlete for a very long time.”

“I was trying, trying, trying the whole last year to revive my playing career, but once you play at a very good level, just winning Super 100s or Challengers isn’t satisfying. I was not able to find form and training for long periods increased injuries, so I just couldn’t crack the Top 30s,” says the 2017 Singapore Open champion, one of only four MS shuttlers to win a Super title. Playing Challengers also meant two matches a day which further battered his fitness.

Dear Badminton , Thank you 🙏 pic.twitter.com/FuMDDKPMmM

— Sai Praneeth (@saiprneeth92) March 4, 2024

“I’ve done whatever needed to be done as a player. I didn’t want to ‘just play.’ There’s a long life of 20-30 years in badminton ahead of me, so I decided to go to the next phase. I knew lots of people in the US and started looking for opportunities, finally going for the best one with good pay for club coaching in Cary,” he explained. “There’s enough good coaches in India,” he quipped.

Planning to move with his family, he also knew it was financially a smart choice. “My wife is an IT professional, so she’ll have lots of opportunities too,” said, the father of a toddler.

Sai Praneeth was one of Gopichand’s first three famous wards in 2003, along with Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap. “It’s not necessary that good players make great coaches, but I really like coaching. So this is a good challenge,” he said.

For Siyaduttullah, who travelled when Sindhu won her first international title at Maldives beating Marin, every last few days at the PGBA have been tearful as he’ll miss his first coaching stint. But the Oregon Badminton Club at Portland offered good money. “It’s good contract for my family financially, and such good opportunities don’t come again and again. It’s run by Ajit Joshi, originally from Pune, and he’s doing everything to make my stint comfortable,” says Gopichand’s trusted lieutenant, who devoted his last 20 years as development coach of all of India’s top names.

Mohammed Siyaduttullah with PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal.

His children are 10, 8 and 2, and after visiting his US cousin two months back, his mind was made up. “It’s mostly beginners to train, very few seniors, so I’m good at that aspect. They are trying to bring more seriousness and professionalism into coaching in the US. I think I can be good at it. Plus easier working hours and more family time which I missed for two decades. This is the correct time,” says the first assistant coach at Hyderabad’s centre.

His father recently suffered an accident, and coming from a joint family, Siyaduttullah stresses the money will help him. He will terribly miss the academy. “I have a special attachment with Gopi. He’s a good listener, he’s ready for change and never fixed on ideas and I learnt new things everyday from him. When I told him, he first asked me to stay back, but then he was happy for my growth. He said I could come back anytime I felt like,” he says.

Siyaduttullah, a calm, intelligent brain with wildly funny Telugu colloquial instructions, has been courtside for some important landmarks. When Srikanth won China Open beating Lin Dan, he was heard repeatedly telling him to ‘forget he is Lin Dan and take the attack to him.’ Siyaduttullah would funnel the inspiring words into Srikanth’s mind that he was playing far better than the legend that day, and he ought not to follow him, when he had better speed. Super Dan kept flicking, but at a crucial juncture, with the coach screaming from behind him, Srikanth would flick the shuttle deceptively into the corner for a famous title victory.

“Helping Srikanth beat Lee Chong Wei at CWG team finals was also a good memory. But I have good equation with all of them. They were very respectful to me,” he recalls.

For Sai Praneeth, arguably India’s most talented stylish strokemaker, the end of playing days is a mixed bag, though India’s MS title wins for the current generation started with him. “There were lots of downs, but the Singapore Open win changed mindsets and confidence of everyone. The World Championships bronze I remember because I won first round and prequarters 21-19 both from trailing positions, in the third game,” he says. India had been without a men’s singles medal for 36 years, and in a masterstroke in the quarters, Sai would switch strategy. “At a crucial time, Gopi sir told me to stop attacking, and let him (Ginting) attack. It took him by surprise,” he remembers.

“I’m happy my name is on a small part of Indian badminton history,” he says, as he starts a fresh life in a small town in North Carolina, happy with the change.

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