Gopichand’s daughter wins twin crowns in Jakarta

New Delhi: National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand’s daughter Gayatri Pullela has bagged both the singles and doubles crown at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Jakarta.

Gayatri eked out a hard-fought 21-11 18-21 21-16 win over her doubles partner Samiya Farooqui to win the girls U-15 singles title.

Gayatri later teamed up with Samiya to clinch the U-15 doubles title with a straight game 21-17 21-15 win over Indonesian pair of Kelly Larissa and Shelandry Vyola.

Both Gayatri and Samiya train together at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

Speaking after the U-15 doubles event, Samiya said, “It was a great experience for me considering I was playing my own partner in the singles final. Tournaments like these are a great learning for us, and we look forward to many such competitions. I would also like to thank our coach Gopi sir who is helping us get better and better.

—PTI