PUNE: India needs a pathway for jury and judges’ training to take Indian sports to another level, feels Pune-based international shooting jury Pawan Singh, who is all set to officiate at the Tokyo Games from July 23.
Pawan will be one among 26 jury members, who will officiate at the shooting events in Tokyo and first from India to do so.
The joint secretary general of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), Pawan said being first from the country is always special, but he would like to see many more Indians come up in the jury and judges’ category.
“I feel four pillars are important to make any sport successful. Athletes, coaches being first and second, national federations’ growth at the international level makes a lot of difference. The fourth is the standard of judges and jury members at the international standard. Most of the Olympic leaders, be it the USA, China, Russia or Germany, they all find a lot of their jury members officiating at the Olympics. Having someone from your own country in the jury instills confidence in the athlete’s mind, as they can guide the athletes in knowing the rules and regulations,” Pawan told on Wednesday.
Pawan says he has requested the state and central government to recognize the efforts of jury members, which will encourage the next generation to take up the job.
“Currently, across sports, coaches double up as judge or jury members in domestic competitions in India. This is wrong, as most of the times those coach-turned-judges officiate in matches involving their own wards. Hence, staying impartial becomes difficult. In India, we need judges and juries who officiate without being partial. That would help in bringing the right talent up the ladder,” he said.
Pawan is the first and only Indian to become a member of the International Shooting Sport Federation’s Judges Committee.
