World Grand Prix The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006. Men's singles IBF International Men's singles Coaching career After retiring from his playing career, Pullela founded the Gopichand Badminton Academy in 2008 after reportedly mortgaging his own house. Nimmagadda Prasad, a renowned industrialist, donated on a condition that his academy win a medal for India at the Olympics in badminton. The academy produced several badminton players including Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu, Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap, Srikanth Kidambi, Arundhati Pantawane, Gurusai Datt, and Arun Vishnu. Saina Nehwal went on to win the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, while P. V. Sindhu went on to win the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the bronze medal at the pandemic-hit 2020 Summer Olympics, and also became the first Indian to win the gold medal at the BWF World Championships. Pullela also served as the official Indian Olympic Badminton Team coach at the 2016 Rio Olympics held in Brazil. Awards and honours Arjuna Award, 1999. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, 2001 Padma Shri, 2005 Dronacharya Award, 2009 Padma Bhushan, 2014 Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, 2013, under Category Establishment and Management of Sports Academies of Excellence- Pullela Gopichand Academy of Badminton, Hyderabad He was bestowed upon an honorary doctorate by IIT Kanpur on the occasion of their 52nd Convocation. Rewards for Coaching the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics silver medallist P. V. Sindhu from the Government of Telangana from Badminton Association of India from the Government of Andhra Pradesh Personal life Pullela married fellow badminton player P. V. V. Lakshmi on 5 June 2002. They have two children, a daughter named Gayathri and a son named Vishnu. In Dec 2020, he launched guided meditation sessions for athletes named "Dhyana for Sports" in the App Dhyana. The sessions have been designed by him based on his experience training athletes. He is also the Director of Dhyana. Dhyana, in collaboration with Heartfulness Institute, was the official meditation partner of the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) for Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. References External links 1973 births Living people Indian male badminton players Indian sports coaches Telugu people Indian national badminton champions Racket sportspeople from Andhra Pradesh Badminton coaches Badminton players at the 2002 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1998 Asian Games People from Prakasam district Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India