Oh no! After Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap leaves Pullela Gopichand's academy in Hyderabad

New Delhi: At a time when the entire country is praising badminton coach Pullela Gopichand for his unmatchable contribution to the sport, ace shuttler Parupalli Kashyap has decided to leave his academy in Hyderabad. (ALSO SEE: List of India's All Olympic Medal Winners)

The 29-year-old's dream of playing at the Rio Olympics suffered a huge blow after he twisted his knee in the German Open in March earlier this year. As a result of the injury, Kashyap pulled out of Malaysia Super Series Premier and Singapore Open ahead of the mega event and has not played since then.

According to a report in The Times of India, following surgery to repair the medial collateral ligament in his right leg and a long rehabilitation process, the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medalist has now decided to shift base to Bengaluru to work with noted coach Tom John at Tom's Badminton Academy here.

“I initially thought I would come here for two months as I wanted a change in atmosphere,“ Kashyap told TOI on Tuesday .“The Olympics was a big deal for me so when I didn't make it because of injury it was quite disturbing," he added.

When asked how did Gopichand take the news, he said, "He didn't say much, but I'm sure he understands that I'm a senior player. He definitely didn't take it badly as he understood my situation."

Kashyap, who was once the World No.8, suffered a calf muscle tear in October last year. He then sustained an abdominal strain and failed to defend his Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold title.

The Hyderabad shuttler also missed the South Asian Games and then hoping to qualify for Olympics, he was back on the court at German Open but there was no respite for him.

Notably, Saina had split with Gopi in 2014 after which she has been training with Vimal Kumar in Bengaluru.