OGQ to support Deepika Kumari, Talukdar till Rio Olympics

Mumbai: Olympic Gold Quest, founded by badminton ace Prakash Padukone and billiards great Geet Sethi, has decided to support the training and preparation of top Indian archers Deepika Kumari and Jayanta Talukdar till the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 18-year-old Ranchi-born Deepika, an individual gold medal winner in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and Talukdar - a two-time team bronze winner in the last two Asian Games, have joined fellow-archers Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai in his organisation`s fold, said OGQ CEO Viren Rasquinha today. "The idea is to support them in international exposure through competitions, world class equipment and mental and physical training to help them aim higher," said Rasquinha. "They are both world class archers and great medal prospects in the 2016 Rio Games and it is essential we put concrete plans in place for them right away," said the former India hockey captain. "I am very happy to get the support of OGQ. After the London Olympics I have realised that my training needs to be more professional and systematic," said Deepika who ended up a disappointing eighth in the 2012 Games. "I know that OGQ can make a significant impact in this regard along with the support that I am getting from Tata Steel," said world no. 3 Deepika who had been declared the Tata Steel Sports Person of the year 2013. Talukdar, also from Tata Steel, echoed her views and said he has seen how OGQ, which also has other sports persons like Leander Paes, Vishwanathan Anand and former table tennis champion Niraj Bajaj on its Board of Directors, has taken care of the needs of fellow-archers Banerjee and Rai. "I am confident that the support from OGQ and Tata Steel will enable us to mount a serious challenge for Olympic medals," added the 28-year-old archer and product of the Tata Archery Academy. PTI