An all-women panel of chair umpires made history on Saturday at the 49th Yonex-Sunrise Junior National Badminton Championships in Gangtok.
Seventeen chair umpires took charge of the opening matches in the Inter-State team event, marking the first time such a panel has officiated at a national championship in a significant step for women in sports officiating.
The pioneering panel of 17 umpires from across the country was selected after assessing their performances at the All India Ranking Tournament (u-15/u-17) held in Jaipur earlier this year.
“This is an important step towards encouraging more women to take up officiating at the highest level.”
Shri Sanjay Mishra, Badminton Association of India (BAI) Secretary General
“Our objective is to create a larger pool of qualified and experienced women umpires in the country and provide them with opportunities to officiate at major national events.”
Shri Sanjay Mishra, Badminton Association of India (BAI) Secretary General
“This initiative will also inspire more women to pursue umpiring as a career.” Badminton Association
Shri Sanjay Mishra, Badminton Association of India (BAI) Secretary General
Alongside the officiating milestone, the tournament featured intense competition as Maharashtra girls and Haryana boys advanced to the semifinals of the Inter-State team event. In the girls event, Maharashtra defeated Assam 2-0, while Haryana boys overcame Maharashtra with an identical scoreline. Uttarakhand boys and girls defeated host Sikkim in both events to advance to the last four stage.
The Inter-State team event is scheduled to be played over two days, with individual events starting from November 16th.
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