It was not only about the bucks for P Gopichand and S Karthik as they served up badminton and cricket gear when Covid-19 was at its most confronting

Chief national badminton coach P Gopichand; (right) Puducherry cricketer S Karthik with his Carbon bats

Sports and athletes were greatly affected by Covid-19 lockdowns. Neither were there any sporting activity for months, nor was there any training due to severe restrictions in venturing outdoors.

However, there were a few in the sporting world who could make the most of the COVID-19 lockdowns. One of them was Pullela Gopichand—chief national badminton coach and one of the most decorated Indian shuttlers of all-time. Gopichand made the most of free time by taking the online route to launch badmintonhub.in [with entrepreneurs Afroze Khan and Ronak Sachdeva] where shuttlers could get all their badminton requirements with ease. “I think Covid-19 hastened the process a bit to be able to work remotely and the need to expand and communicate beyond physical presence.

“Going to a store seemed a bit old-fashioned. Millennials were more comfortable picking up stuff online. We wanted shuttlers to buy their equipment from a badminton expert rather than going to a multi-platform website. The option of having an expert help you choose your gear comes from personal experience with people calling me to ask which racquet to buy if they were attacking players. So, someone who has played at an international stage, helping them decide makes sense,” said Gopichand, who also dipped into two other ventures— Dhyana ring and Matchday.ai.

Meanwhile in Puducherry, Covid-induced lockdowns caused first-class cricketer S Karthik to start his own venture which until then was on the backburner. 

The opening batsman launched Carbon, a cricket equipment brand, when the entire country was ordered to shut down in a matter of a few hours in March 2020. “I was employed with a company in Pondicherry, but people were losing jobs and I was in a position where I certainly knew I could lose my job too. I was looking to follow my passion of sports equipment. It had been on my mind for a long time, but Covid accelerated my decision to start my business.”

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“I had a lot of time with no cricket happening and I had saved up some money. It was difficult to find the right manufacturer. The first few months were all about getting associated with the right manufacturers and getting quality products. I lost some money initially [approximately ‘1 lakh] as the first lot of English willow bats that I ordered were not up to the mark. I was keen to launch a brand which would be known for its quality. I had to bear all those losses. Being a player myself, I know the importance of providing quality products at an affordable price,” said Karthik, who has moved back to Chennai to concentrate on his cricket and business. 
 
Once he got the quality right, it was just a matter of picking up the phone and telling his friends to try out his products. “Fortunately, all players who endorsed Carbon bats performed well in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL). That was a tremendous platform for the brand. It was a big hit with the players. We are now supplying our products to minor leagues in the United States and are also in the process of getting an approval from the International Cricket Council,” he said. 

There’s nothing like show business they say, but in this case, there’s no business like sports.