Gopichand was the last Indian to win the All England Championship in 2001, achieving the coveted feat after 21 years of Prakash Padukone's 1980 title.
In a nail-biting last eight match which swung too frequently, it was a miscued smash from the Indian that ended the gruelling contest 22-20 16-21 21-23.
The world No. 3 Indian recovered from a mid-way slump to overcome the Thai shuttler Nitchaon Jindapol 21-13, 13-21 and 21-18 in a match which lasted an hour and seven minutes.
Sindhu and Srikanth are expected to have easy first round outings against relatively unheralded opponents but the road is tricky for former finalist Saina Nehwal, who will face none other than world no 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.
Sindhu is expected to cross the first hurdle without much of a problem and in that case, she may get a chance to settle scores with American Beiwen Zhang Zhang in a likely second round clash.
The 24-year-old from Spain clinched two World Championship titles, an All England title beside the Olympic crown all in a span of three years between 2014 to 2016.
Saina Nehwal wants time to train for the All England Championship to be held at Birmingham from March 14 to 18.
Birmingham: Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal's quest for becoming the first Indian woman to win the most prestigious All England badminton championship ended in agony after she suffered a heart-breaking loss to Spain's Carolina Marin
Birmingham: London Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal today scripted history by reaching the finals of the prestigious All England Badminton Championship with a straight-game victory over Sun Yu of China in the women's singles competition
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