OLYMPIC GOLD QUEST ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF
VIREN RASQUINHA AS ITS CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Olympic Gold Quest announces the appointment of Viren Rasquinha as its Chief Operations Officer (COO) with effect from 1st June, 2009.
Viren Rasquinha, one of the biggest stars of Indian Hockey, is an Olympian and the former captain of the Indian Hockey team. He was bestowed with the prestigious Arjuna Award for Hockey for the year 2005. He has played 180 international matches for the Indian hockey team in a career spanning from 2002 till he retired in January 2008. He was an immensely gifted midfielder and an excellent team player known for his fearless tackling skills, tireless running and calm temperament. He was also the captain of the Maratha Warriors in the Premier Hockey League (PHL) for 4 consecutive years from 2005-2008 and played for Stuttgart Kickers in the German Bundesliga in the 2007-08 season
After his retirement in 2008, Viren did his MBA at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad which is ranked 15th in the world in the Financial Times (FT) world rankings for MBA schools. He has a dual major in Marketing and Strategy.
Commenting on his appointment as COO of Olympic Gold Quest, Rasquinha seemed very excited about his new role, “The 1 year stint at ISB has taught me a lot in what it takes to be a good manager and leader and I am really looking forward to working closely with legends like Geet and Prakash. Sport is something that has given me so much in life and I truly believe that I can make a difference to sport in India with my experiences as a player and my management background. The challenges are enormous but it is very exciting for me to work with a fantastic team at OGQ”. He went on to add, “My thrust areas would be identifying the most talented athletes in the country in individual Olympic sports and those with potential to win an Olympic medal and really do everything possible to take them to the highest level of performance.”
Geet Sethi said “The fact that Viren has been appointed as COO shows the commitment of Olympic Gold Quest to true sporting excellence. Viren is an elite sportsman first and foremost and along with his management background, he is the ideal person to drive our vision forward which is to develop Olympic champions.”
Badminton legend Prakash Padukone had this to say, “Viren will be in a position to understand the athletes better than anyone else. He knows what it takes from the point of view of a top sportsman and we want him to identify the areas where OGQ can make a difference to the final performance of our athletes.”
Niraj Bajaj, one of the Board members of OGQ and former National Table Tennis Champion and Arjuna Awardee and Director, Bajaj Group of Companies had the following comments, “Viren brings very unique abilities to the table. He balances the sporting vision and the business perspective and we look forward to having him work very closely with the athletes.”
The most prominent athlete on board Olympic Gold Quest is ace shooter Gagan Narang who currently holds the world record in the men’s 10 metre air rifle event. Besides Gagan, OGQ has also tied up with Badminton player Guru Sai Dutt, discus thrower Vikas Gowda and boxer Sanjay Kolte. The foundation also supports Tintu Luka who is the most promising women’s 800 metre-runner in the country and the P.T. Usha School of Athletics.
Olympic Gold Quest is a Foundation for the Promotion of Sports and Games promoted by Geet Sethi, Prakash Padukone and Niraj Bajaj. OGQ’s Board and Executive Committee also comprises R Ramaraj (Senior Adviser, Sequoia Capital India), Shitin Desai (Vice Chairman, DSP Merrill Lynch), Rakesh Khanna (Founding Partner, Ambit RSM) and Neeraj Bharadwaj (Country Head, Apax Partners).
Some of the prominent donors to date for OGQ include the Bajaj group, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Shitin Desai, R Ramaraj, Ashish Kacholia, Amit Chandra and Vijay Aggarwal.
Major International tournaments played by Viren Rasquinha:
• Athens Olympics 2004
• World Cup, Munchengladbach 2006
• Asia Cup, Kuala Lumpur 2003 (Gold Medal)
• Afro Asian Games, Hyderabad 2003 (Gold Medal)
• Asian Games, Busan 2002 (Silver Medal)
• Junior World Cup, Hobart 2001 (Gold Medal)