Viren Wilfred Rasquinha (born 13 September 1980) is an Indian former

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player and captain of the Indian national team. He was a member of the team that competed at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. He quit international hockey in 2008 to pursue management studies at the age of 28. He came to gitam

Early life

Rasquinha was born in 1980 to Eric and Merlyn Rasquinha. He studied at St. Stanislaus High School in

Bandra Bandra (Indian English, æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre (Help:IPA/Marathi, �aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate nor ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, then graduated with a B.Com from MMK College in Bandra.

Hockey career

Rasquinha made his junior international debut in 1999, and was part of the team that won the 2001 Junior World Cup in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, Australia. He made his senior international debut as a midfielder in May 2002, at a Four Nation Tournament in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. He won a silver medal at the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games ( ko, 2002년 아시아 경기대회/2002년 아시안 게임, Icheoni-nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheoni-nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the XIV Asian Games ( ko, 제14회 아시아 경기대회/제14회 아시안 � ...

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, gold medals at the

Asia Cup The Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup is a men's One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

and the

Afro-Asian Games The Afro-Asian Games were the series of inter-continental multi-sport competitions, held between athletes from Asia and Africa. These Games are one-of-a-kind, since no other sporting competition brings athletes from these two continents together ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

in 2003. He was part of the Olympic team which finished seventh in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. He led the Indian Hockey team for the first time in the bilateral series against Pakistan in 2004. He was also captain of the

Premier Hockey League Premier Hockey League (PHL) was a professional field hockey league competition for clubs in the top division of the Indian hockey system. There were seven teams in the PHL. The competition was held every year from 2005 until 2008. History The ...

team

Maratha Warriors The Maratha Warriors were a field hockey team from Maharashtra, India that competed in the now defunct Premier Hockey League. Team Lineup Players Squad Note: The list of players was obtained from the PHL website. The list may change in t ...

, and played for Tata Sports, Air India, and the Indian Oil Corporation, as well as 180 international matches. Rasquinha announced his retirement from hockey on 15 January 2008 at the age of 28, to pursue his studies.

Business career

After retiring from hockey, Rasquinha studied for a

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

(MBA) at the

Indian School of Business The Indian School of Business (ISB) is a private business school established in India in 2001. It has two parallel campuses in India, in Hyderabad (Telangana) and Mohali (Punjab). It offers certificates in various post-graduate management prog ...

. After completion of his MBA, he joined

Olympic Gold Quest Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) is a program of the Foundation for Promotion of Sports and Games, a Not for Profit (Section 25) Company, which is committed to bridging the gap between the best athletes in India and the best athletes in the world thus h ...

in 2009, and is now the CEO. Along with

Pullela Gopichand Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is a former Indian badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second In ...

and

Abhinav Bindra Abhinav Apjit Bindra is an Indian Olympic gold medallist, retired sport shooter, and businessman.2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

that prepared India's plans for the Olympic Games in 2020, 2024 and 2028. Their report was submitted to the PMO on 12 August 2017. Rasquinha was named as one of the "Top 40 Under 40" leaders in India for 2017-18 by the '' Economic Times''.

Personal life

Rasquinha got married in 2013 to Smitha Nair.

Honours

*2004,

Shiv Chhatrapati Award Shiv Chhatrapati Award (also known as Shiv Chhatrapati State Sports Award) is the highest prestigious sports award honoured annually to the players of Maharashtra by the Government of Maharashtra in India . The Government of Maharashtra institute ...

from the

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term. Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisla ...

. *2005,

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

for Best Sportsman of the Year in Hockey.

References

General

Official MoneyControl website Interview

Official ISB website Interview

External links

*

at bharatiyahockey.org * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasquinha, Viren 1980 births Living people Field hockey players from Maharashtra Olympic field hockey players of India Field hockey players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Arjuna Award Mangaloreans Indian Christians Asian Games medalists in field hockey World Series Hockey players Field hockey players at the 2002 Asian Games Indian male field hockey players Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Commonwealth Games competitors for India 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup players