Former hockey captain Viren Rasquinha (from left), badminton ace Prakash Padukone and shooter Anjali Bhagwat at an event in Mumbai. (Photo: Asian Age)
Former hockey captain Viren Rasquinha (from left), badminton ace Prakash Padukone and shooter Anjali Bhagwat at an event in Mumbai. (Photo: Asian Age)
Former Olympian Viren Rasquinha praised the Indian hockey team’s resurgence in the last three years but said that “expecting a medal in the Rio Olympics will be asking for too much” at this juncture.
“We have to take one step at a time. India did not qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and we were 12th (and last) in London. From there to go and win a medal is unrealistic. Our first aim should be to qualify for the quarter-finals,” Rasquinha said.
The former skipper felt India had made significant progress under coach Roelant Oltmans and were capable of beating any team on their day though he singled out world champions Australia.
The former midfielder has been roped in as a panelist by Star Sports along with Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe, badminton legend Prakash Padukone, former shooting champion Anjali Bhagwat and Olympic swimmer Rehan Poncha.
Bhagwat also warned against putting too much pressure on the shooters who have done well in the last two Olympics.
“The shooting contingent is good. We should enjoy their quality performance rather than put pressure. It is going to be tough and hard to predict winners. After the 2012 rulebook changed, there is more of perfection and accuracy. The difference between winning and losing will be minimal,” she said.
Padukone sounded optimistic but conceded there was no guarantee of an Olympic medal despite Saina Nehwal’s Australian Open win recently.
“We have the best chance in the women’s singles with Saina and P.V. Sindhu doing well. Saina has beaten all the top players. At the Olympics, past wins don’t matter. We hope she repeats her performance. We also have a chance in the women’s doubles and also (Kidambi) Srikanth has been doing well.”
