Up-and-coming Indian pugilists Suranjoy Singh and Nanao Singh are set to sign a sponsorship deal with Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), floated by badminton ace Prakash Padukone and billiards champion Geet Sethi.
"We will be signing a deal with Suranjoy and Nanao in a couple of days," said Olympic Gold Quest COO Viren Rasquinha on the sidelines of the fourth Super Cup Boxing Championship at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai on Wednesday.
"We sign up only with those athletes whom we believe are genuine contenders to win an Olympic gold medal and who show capability, ability and consistency," he said.
"They (Nanao and Suranjoy) have already proven they are the best in the country. Now they have to show they are the best in the world," the former India hockey captain said.
After signing the deal, the organisation will take care of the funding necessary to improve their performance in terms of coaching, training, diet, physiotherapy etc, that are over and above the national government fund, the Olympian said.
In case they want to train abroad, or participate in international tournaments, we will sponsor their travelling and accommodation expenses too, Rasquinha added.
"The only condition is that whatever funding we do would be against the payment of bills, as we are a transparent organisation and want to keep things that way," he said.
"Now all they have to do is be foccused and retain the hunger to win within them every single day," Rasquinha added.
Three other boxers -- women's World champion Mary Kom, Sanjay Kolte and Usha Nagisetty -- had earlier signed up with the organisation. Badminton ace Saina Nehwal too has a deal with the NGO.
Olympic Gold Quest was started to identify and support Indian athletes with a proven track record and the potential to win medals in 2012 London Olympics.
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