The Hockey India Federation has congratulated Rohini Bopanna on Saturday for being promoted to FIH Technical Official, Advancement Panel.
Furthermore, Umpire Gurbaj Singh also received a congratulatory message for his promotion to Outdoor Umpire[FIH International Panel].
Rohini kicked off her international career as a technical official when she had her first officiating during the 4th Hockey India National Championship [women] in 2014 and was involved with the Junior, Sub-Junior, and senior categories.
Despite being an ex-hockey player herself, the 39- year old has since then handled the officiating of matches at domestic and international levels. She [Bopanna] had, however, revealed that her first international assignment was a crucial milestone in her career as a technical official when she officiated at the 12th South Asian Games 2016 in Guwahati, India.
She was also assigned to officiate the 4th women’s Asian Champions Trophy which later held that year
Bopanna comes from a family that has hockey-playing attributes in its root. She also played for a state in Karnataka in all age groups [Junior, Sub-Junior, Senior level].
Her husband was a former Hockey Goalkeeper and had been supporting her as a technical official. In 2019, she was also appointed as a technical Official for the men’s and women’s Asia Cup 2019 held in Chonburi, Thailand. She has previously been selected as a technical Official for the 5th women’s Asian Trophy 2018 held in Donghae City, South Korea.
When asked about how she feels about her new promotion, she said, ” I am honored to receive this distinctive award from the FIH. I began my career in 2014 when appointed as technical Official for the 4th Indian Hockey National Championship [ women] “.
“I am very grateful to the Hockey Indian Umpiring team, technical and competition committee for giving me the platform to officiate in the past five years, which has helped me in developing myself. ”
The Hockey India’s Secretary General Rajinder Singh also congratulated Outdoor Umpire Gurbaj Singh on his promotion to the FIH International Panel and urged him to do well to the hockey Federation at large.