Former India player and badminton coach Pullela Gopichand offered to help national women’s 100m champion Dutee Chand, and will fund her overseas exposure trip, reported Hindustan Times.
Gopichand funded Dutee’s trip to Birmingham, England, where the sprinter participated in an international indoor athletics meet on February 18. Dutee’s coach N Ramesh revealed why Gopichand had to use his resources to help Chand, “Since indoor events aren’t popular in India, getting financial assistance from the government is challenging. It was a good opportunity for Dutee to compete with top global athletes,” he said.
Dutee finished sixth in her heats clocking 7.39 seconds in 60 metres, but Ramesh felt that the trip would help her prepare for the World Athletics Championships in 2018, “Since Dutee has shown marked improvement in 60m, the exposure trip will help her mentally for the 2018 season,” Ramesh added.