Doha, May 14 (IANS): Badminton Gurukul, an initiative of Indian badminton legend Pullela Gopichand, has taken a small step forward towards providing high-quality training to shuttlers from different parts of the world with Qatar turning out to be the first stop in that direction.

Padma Bhushan Gopichand, the former chief national badminton coach of India, along with Supriya Devgun, Founder and Managing Director of Badminton Gurukul were in Qatar for two days. During their visit, they attended several training sessions, helped aspiring badminton enthusiasts with technical knowledge and also met a host of badminton stakeholders in Qatar.

"The Badminton Gurukul training centre in Qatar with Absolute Sports aims to provide young and aspiring badminton players with the right platform and guidance for their journey in the sport. It is always great to interact with enthusiastic kids and help shape young minds," said Gopichand, speaking about the association.

When asked about Badminton Gurukul's vision, Devgun said: "We have been able to spread Gopichand's teachings and setup quality badminton training facilities at over 40 centres pan-India and this is a small step forward towards spreading Gopichand's teachings and institutionalising the sport in Qatar. We also hope that with the Asian Games coming up in 2030 we're able to contribute actively towards building a national badminton team for Qatar."

Speaking about how sports is a way of life, Gopichand added: "There is nothing better than sports to teach us about life, failure, hard work, discipline and time management."