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The Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) mission to win Olympic Gold medals for the country just got a massive boost. Current World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand has given his consent to join the Not-for-Profit Foundation as one of the Board of Directors. Speaking about this latest development in a glittering career studded with victories and awards, Anand was his usual unassuming self. “I am quite honoured to join the Board of OGQ. As a sportsperson it is nice to join my fellow sportspersons in making India a sporting and Olympic nation. Our up coming sportspersons can learn a lot from our experience and we in turn can provide them a platform for excellence. I am quite excited in taking this initiative forward and making sports and excellence a part of our mind set.”
8 time World Billiards Champion and Olympic Gold Quest co-founder Geet Sethi remarked, “Viswanathan Anand is quite simply the greatest sportsman India has ever produced. His class and consistency in every format of the game make him a true role model for all Indian sportsmen. We are very proud to have him actively supporting the Olympic Gold Quest movement.”
Badminton legend Prakash Padukone, co-founder of OGQ waxed eloquent about the qualities of Anand. “Beneath that unassuming nature lies a sportsman with great vision, immense passion and patriotism. These are qualities that we desperately need in all our athletes who represent the country at the Olympics. Anand is an inspirational figure for every Indian sportsperson.”
Anand has assured himself a place among all time greats as he recently retained the World Champion title against Veselin Topalov in his own backyard in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Anand now has to his credit a rare combination of three consecutive World Championship titles and four in all including the knockout format that he won in 2000.
OGQ is a program of the Foundation for Promotion of Sports and Games which is committed to bridging the gap between the best athletes in India and the best athletes in the world thus helping Indian athletes win Olympic Gold medals.
OGQ also has Mr. Niraj Bajaj, 4 time National Table Tennis Champion and Arjuna Awardee, and Director, Bajaj Group of Companies as one of its Board of Directors. Leander Paes, 12 time Grand Slam Champion and Tennis legend is also on the Board along with corporate luminaries Mr. Shitin Desai (Executive Vice Chairman, DSP Merrill Lynch), Mr. R. Ramaraj (Senior Advisor, Sequoia Capital), Mr. Rakesh Khanna (Co-Founder, Ambit RSM) and Mr. Neeraj Bharadwaj (Managing Director, Accel Partners).
Viren Rasquinha, former Indian Hockey Captain, is the Chief Operating Officer of OGQ. 4 time World Boxing Champion M.C. Marykom, Badminton World No. 2 Saina Nehwal and 10m Air Rifle World Record holder and first Indian shooter to qualify for London 2012 Olympics, Gagan Narang are some of the 21 sportspersons whose training and preparations are actively supported by OGQ.
