Court marshals

These judges belong to a different court. The fluctuating numbers on the scoreboards, other than the players' moves are a result of their decisions.

Judging is all about having a composed and unbiased mind, say the three Pune-based badminton judges of the recently concluded CYG

These judges belong to a different court. The fluctuating numbers on the scoreboards, other than the players8217; moves are a result of their decisions. Perfection is their domain for they cannot afford to make mistakes. Concentration, decision-making ability, unbiased judgements8212;it8217;s a combination of these that makes an international judge and Sudeep Barve, Uday Sane and Vinod Badkundri the three international badminton judges from Pune, who are contributing their expertise at the Commonwealth Youth Games, know it only too well.

Badkundri was a badminton player during his college days and it was a wrong decision by one of the judges that made him lose a match as a player that decided his future career for him. 8220;During one of the tournaments I realised that getting good judges was a very difficult task and decided to plunge into the field,8221; he said. Barve was a badminton player as well and has an anecdote to support his career move. 8220;During one of the tournaments, the judge did not turn up and I being a coach, was asked by the organisers to judge the match. From then on there was no looking back,8221; he smiles.

What followed the decisions were countless certifications. While Badkundri is a Grade 1 Asian Badminton Confederation ABC certified judge, Sane completed his World Badminton Federation Certification in 2006. Barve says, 8220;I completed my ABC accreditation in 2008 in Malaysia.8221;

Amongst the 14 international judges in the country, the trio is extremely pleased with the kind of infrastructure that was made available to the players at CYG. 8220;We have judged competitions across the worldand we truly believe that this infrastructure is world class,8221; says Sane. Barve however points out, 8220;The challenge is that we have good infrastructure for tournaments but the kind of courts that our players practice on are made of cement flooring. Coming to Balewadi for practice session is not always possible for everybody. It is thus important to create such facilities at various locations in the city.8221;

The judges are optimistic about the future of badminton. Says Badkundri, 8220;Saina is the first girl after Aparna Popat to bring about this change. And this is just the tip of the iceberg because there are a number of names like Aditi Bhutatkar and more .8221; Commenting on being able to create more world class players, Sane adds, 8220;Badminton is a costly game and what is important for world ranking is collecting more and more points which in turn depends upon participating in more and more tournaments. Government support is extremely important.8221;

Fourteen judges for a country like India might seem to be a small number but the judges are extremely satisfied with the count. 8220;Only unfortunately we do not have any training institute in the country for judges except for the one by Government of Patiala where there is a six monthly course for judges.8221;

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Welcoming the shift of focus from cricket to other games, Barve says , 8220;We all have been coaches and I believe that it is the responsibility of coaches as well as the students to make use of this trend. Coaches in India concentrate on skills but today8217;s game is about pace and power. Other than the technicalities, fitness and spontaneity are important and if we concentrate on these aspects, glorious days are not far!8221;