Gopi's contemporary Dipankar aims to create Olympic medallists

He was national badminton coach P Gopichand's contemporary and had represented India in two Olympics, but now Dipankar Bhattacharjee is following in footsteps of his one-time rival and is aiming to produce Olympic medal winners.

In Ulwe, a town 43km from Mumbai, Bhattacharjee - who represented India in 1992 Barcelona (third round exit) and 1996 Atlanta Olympics (second round exit after first round bye) - is honing the skills of young shuttlers at a centre of his academy here and has even hired a Malaysian coach, Mohammed Hairi bin Matzuber, for his wards.

"My aim is to find at least one Olympic medallist from among these players; that is the only aim in life at the moment," Bhattacharjee told PTI at the conclusion of one of his coaching sessions at the centre.

"Gopi did his part. I just want to do my part, in whatever best I can do, with whatever knowledge and expertise that I have that I want to share with and give back to the next generation", the former national ...