Tata Sports Club felicitates Gopichand 
November 19, 2001

Continuing its tradition of rewarding sporting talent in India, the Tata Sports Club today felicitated badminton star Pullela Gopichand, the winner of this year’s All-England Badminton Championship. Gopichand was presented a cash award of Rs 5 lakh and a silver salver by club president and Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata following the final of the Tatanova Invitational Badminton Tournament at the PJ Hindu Gymkhana in Mumbai.

The Tata Sports Club was constituted in 1937 with the objective of promoting sporting talent in India. The club’s involvement in badminton, which started in 1962, has seen it playing host to the annual Inter-Company Badminton Tournament, where teams from various Tata group companies participate.

Speaking on the occasion, R. Gopalakrishnan, a member of the club's apex committee, said: “The Tata Group was the first industrial house to encourage sporting talent in India. The group’s commitment to excellence can be gauged from the aims and objectives stated in the Tata Sports Club’s constitution: ‘To give or contribute towards awards and distinctions, and to support or assist any cause in the furtherance of sport.’ Gopichand’s sterling performance at the All- England Championship has not only brought glory to the nation, but has also rekindled a high degree of interest in badminton across India.”

T. R. Doongaji, the chairman of the club's managing committee, said, “Gopichand has done India proud. His win represents yet another laudable success by an Indian in the international arena. In honouring Gopichand, the Tata Sports Club salutes the triumph of Indian excellence and invokes the spirit of international competitiveness among other promising Indian players.”

The Tata Group’s association with Indian sport has produced over 100 sports stars who have donned the country's colours at various international events. These include 41 Asian Games winners, 32 Olympians and 28 Arjuna Award recipients. Apart from cricket, football, athletics and hockey legends, Tata Sports Club has been home to leading badminton players at the national and state level, including Pradeep Gandhe, Ravi Kunte and Ajay Mishra Ranganath.