The journey has just begun! Sachin Tendulkar lauds Rio winners, predicts greater acheivements

The entire nation is happy at this moment and jumping with joy, said Sachin Tendulkar.

Hyderabad: Lauding PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik for winning medals at the Rio Olympic Games, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar today said it is the beginning of a wonderful journey for the duo.

"This is a wonderful moment for Indian sport. Journey begins here, I am sure this doesn't stop here, we all will be joining that journey and are there to support you. You will keep us giving number of occasions to celebrate," he said.

"The entire nation is happy at this moment and jumping with joy, there are greater things to come," he further said.

He was speaking at a function here where Rio Olympics silver medallist, shuttler PV Sindhu and bronze winner grappler Sakshi Malik along with gymnast Dipa Karmakar and badminton coach Pullela Gopichand were presented BMW cars.

Tendulkar, who was the Goodwill Ambassador of the Indian team at the Rio Olympics, handed over the keys at a function at the Gopichand Badminton Academy.

"Gopichand you have been a wonderful role model, you have gone a notch higher. We all admire you. You are a real hero. We need your guidance in getting more medals. I thank various other coaches also," the batting maestro said.

"On behalf of the entire nation, I can say that all these sportspersons standing beside me have brought laurels to our nation. I thank everyone for supporting and praying (for sportspersons) that is what an athlete looks out for," he said.

"Your preparation...Sacrificed so many things...You are not allowed to eat certain things and phones were kept aside, to enable you to focus. I knew, during Rio I saw such was the focus," Tendulkar said.

"We are extremely proud of you, we all are praying for you, we all support you now that you have said you want to convert bronze into gold and silver into gold (in the next Tokyo Olympic games)," he said referring to the medals won by Sakshi and Sindhu.