SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Mar 9: Jharkhand’s four National Grade–II Technical Officials (badminton umpires) have qualified for higher evaluation in the Badminton Association of India (BAI) examination.
Besides this, Madhu Sudan Murmu of Dumka has also been promoted as a national Grade-II official (umpire) in the examination.
From Jharkhand, eight badminton umpires (national Grade-II technical officials) appeared in the All India Examinations conducted by BAI at Bhubaneswar from December 15 to December 23, 2022. BAI Technical Committee chairman S Murlidharan declared the All India Examination results last week.
Jharkhand Badminton Association (JBA) secretary K Prabhakar Rao said that five candidates of Jharkhand who have been recommended for ‘Higher Evaluation’ include Avinash Kumar Tiwari (Ranchi), Alok Singh (Barkakana), Anurag Kumar and Amit Modak of Jamshedpur and Madhusudan Kumar Murmu of Dumka.
However, three other candidates of the state including Madhurendra Kumar (DVC Maithon), Wasim Akram (Ranchi) and Barun Kumar (Saraikela Kharsawan) have been advised to participate in the next higher-level examination and evaluation.
“It is of course a great achievement for Jharkhand and I personally congratulate the successful candidates for this outstanding achievement (to be national level, high technical official). The examinee is screened not only for his decision on the court but his manner of sitting on a chair during the match is also watched,” said the JBA secretary.
K Prabhakar Rao, who is also the chairman of the All India Paralympic Badminton Association and joint secretary of the national body, admitted that the success of umpires at a national level is a reflection of changes taking place in Jharkhand. This could be possible by removing negative elements and providing training and experience to them.
All five candidates Avinash Kumar Tiwary, Alok Singh, Anurag Kumar, Amit Modak and Madhusudan Kumar Murmu have the credit for officiating more than 500 state and national championships. Their practical examination was taken during different age groups’ national championships held in Bhubaneswar.
Indian team coach Sachin Rana congratulated the successful candidates and said that it is a good sign for Jharkhand that its umpires are emerging in national badminton. “So far, Jharkhand had no presence at the national level and umpires of Maharashtra, Kerala and used to dominate. Our umpires have shown that they could qualify in examination and could reach the national and international level,” said Sachin Rana, who is also joint secretary of JBA. “I request all five to prepare five umpires each to make a strong pool of technical officials in the state,” he added.
