Shuttler Parupalli Kashyap on Wednesday put an end to rumours of a rift with Pullela Gopichand, saying he has shifted to Bengaluru only for two-three months to train under coach Tom John and that he will return to Gopichand Academy very soon.
Kashyap, who missed the Rio Olympics because of knee injury, said that since Gopichand was very busy with the Olympics, he shifted to train under John in Bengaluru so that he can get back to his best for the upcoming tournaments in Indonesia, Japan and Korea.
“It was a complete misrepresentation of facts. I had come to Bengaluru only for two months as Gopi bhaiya was first busy with the Olympics-bound shuttlers and then, he was in Rio,” he said.
“My trainer Declan is from Bengaluru, so I thought it would be easier to just come here and work on my rehabilitation,” the 29-year-old who just recovered from a knee injury. It would have been ridiculous for me to expect Gopi bhaiya to devote any time to me when he needed to work with our Olympians. It would have been different had I qualified, but that was not so,” the 29-year-old said.
“I will return to Hyderabad, but first I’m playing tournaments in Indonesia and Japan,” he added.
Kashyap’s reaction came in the wake of reports that he has left the Gopichand Academy and shifted to Bengaluru.
“It has been a difficult time for me since I injured my knee in the run up to the Olympics. It was disappointing to miss out of Rio. So I thought I should do something different to get back to shape. So I came down to Bangalore and have been training here under Tom John in his academy. I wanted to train with Deckline Leitao at Bangalore and that was the main reason of coming here. I will go back to Hyderabad after a few tournaments next month,” Kashyap said.
The first Indian male shuttler to reach the men's singles quarterfinals at the London Olympics, Kashyap was set to qualify for Rio before a knee injury at German Open in March crushed his dreams. As a result of the injury, he pulled out of Malaysia Super Series Premier and Singapore Open and has not played since then.
“I had injured my medial collateral ligament in right leg and had to go under the knife. What followed was a long rehabilitation process. I wanted a change in atmosphere, so I decided to shift to Bangalore for some time,” the Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallist said.
Once a World No.8, Kashyap had a series of injuries since last year. He suffered a calf muscle tear in October and then sustained an abdominal strain and failed to defend his Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold title.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist also skipped the South Asian Games in Guwahati to recover and be fit to pursue his Olympics dream. But after being back to the court at the German Open, he injured his knee.
“I am playing Indonesia Grand Prix Gold. And I have sent my entry for Japan and Korea Open. I am trying to get the visas and sort my bookings,” he said.
Earlier in 2014, Saina nehwal had split with Pullela Gopichand, after which she has been training with Vimal Kumar in Bangalore.
