Felicitation of Golden Girls of Badminton : Interaction with Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Coach P Gopichand & Moderated by Dr Boria Majumdar

For years now, the Chinese have dominated the sport. India is at the cusp of badminton revolution, the chief architects are Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Coach P Gopichand.

First time ever, the three protagonists of badminton are together on the same platform, and FLO should be credited for the same.
FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) believes that successful women must be recognized not only because they deserve to but also it encourages other women to face all odds and emerge victorious and confident.

It is especially true when Indian women are breaking all stereotypes and bringing laurels to our country in the field of sports, which has been always considered as a male bastion.

It is in this spirit that FLO organised a session to honour and felicitate the Golden Girls of Indian Badminton, Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu. The ace shuttlers swept off the badminton women’s singles event in the Common Wealth Games held at Gold Coast this year, with Saina Nehwal bagging gold and P V Sindhu silver, creating a defining moment in the history of women’s badminton in India.The session was even more significant with their coach Mr Pullela Gopichand, being present with them. A former Indian badminton player and the current Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton team, Mr Gopichand is the man behind the success of the Golden Girls.

On the sidelines of the felicitation ceremony, a panel discussion was organised with Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and P Gopichand, wherein they shared their journey in the badminton world and discussed about possible ways to create a roadmap for sports to evolve as crucial tool for women empowerment.

Dr Boria Majumdar, sports journalist, academician, historian, commentator and author, was the moderator of the panel discussion. He also talked about how the sports arena has changed for women athletes over the years.

FLO President, Pinky Reddy said, “ FLO believes that to achieve the holistic goal of women empowerment, more and more women needs to engage in sports and equal opportunities should be created for them in this arena.”

She added, “Under the aegis of FLO WE Initative, which stands for Women Empowerment, the objective of this session is to recognise the success stories of true achievers and provide a platform for women and youth, to be inspired by them. WE in Sports. i.e. Women Empowerment is Sports is the need of the hour. Besides all other initiatives such as WE in Education, WE in Tourism, WE in Services, FLO will continue working towards WE in Sports. Our endeavour is to stand powerful as an inspiring, empowering and impactful voice for change.”

Their success stories will definitely inspire young girls to emulate the beacons of hope and eventually foray into the world of badminton and also other forms of sports, thereby enabling sports to grow as a powerful mechanism to empower women.