India's Fine Dathan and Vinay Joshi selected to officiate badminton matches in Tokyo Olympics

Two Indian officials, Fine C Dathan and Vinay Joshi, have been selected to officiate badminton matches at the Tokyo Olympics.

Kerala's Dathan will be an umpire at the Games, while Vinay Joshi of Maharashtra has been picked as a line judge.

Tokyo will be the first Olympics for both senior officials. The duo will leave for Tokyo on Tuesday morning. Badminton matches get underway on July 24 after the formal inauguration on July 23.

Trivandrum-based Dathan is one of 20 umpires picked from all over the world to officiate matches at the Olympics.

Dathan, an associate professor at the department of physical education, Government Ayurveda College, Trivandrum, was selected on the basis of his excellent past record.

Dathan has an outstanding track record as a member of the Elite Panel of umpires of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Dathan is a member of the BWF Elite Panel of Umpires

Dathan has umpired in almost all major badminton tournaments, including the World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and Thomas and Uber Cup.

However, he considers it a lifetime achievement to officiate in the Olympics. Dathan, who passed the BWF Accreditation Umpiring test at Qingdao, China in 2011, told Sportskeeda:

“Participation in the Olympics is a dream for everyone who is associated with sports. Athletes try their best to get selected in their respective national teams. For officials like us, we get entry into the Olympics on the basis of our performance in the last couple of decades. I am glad that BWF acknowledged my achievements in the previous tournaments and selected me. It is certainly the best moment of my life.”

Dathan will be the first Kerala badminton official to officiate in the Olympics. He is also the technical officials’ assessor in Badminton Asia and Badminton Association of India (BAI).

Vinay Joshi will be one of 20 line judges at the Tokyo Olympics

The 57-year-old Joshi is a member of the BWF’s Panel of International Line Judges. He is one of 20 line judges selected from all over the world and the only one from India.

Pune-based Joshi, an employee of New India Assurance Co Ltd, is also a BAI referee. He has officiated at all major tournaments in the world. He is delighted and looking forward to the Tokyo Olympics.

Vinay Joshi

Speaking to Sportskeeda, Joshi said:

“There is absolutely no doubt that it’s one of the best moments of my life to be part of the Olympics. I have become part of so many tournaments in my career but this is undoubtedly the best one. I started my badminton umpiring career in 1997 as a state umpire and then passed the Grade II national level exam in 2000. However, there was no Grade I examination for the next 8 years and I finally became a Grade I umpire in 2008 during the Senior Nationals at Indore.”

Since he was late to clear the Grade 1 exam, he could not appear for the international umpiring exams. Joshi added:

“Age was not on my side. I could not go for international umpiring and chose to go for Match Controller. In 2008, Pune hosted the Youth Commonwealth Games and Junior World Championships. I officiated both the tournaments and then the World Championships in Hyderabad in 2009. I was one of the line judges at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010. Meanwhile, the BWF formed a panel of International Line Judges. I applied and was selected for the same. It’s been eight years now since I have been part of the panel.”

He thanked BAI, MBA (Maharashtra Badminton Association), PDMBA (Poona District Metropolitan Badminton Association) and senior umpire Girish Natu for their support. Joshi admitted that going to Tokyo was not easy, as he had to undergo several tests and formalities owing to the COVID-19 protocols.

Officiating Achievements of Fine C Dathan

Nominated as umpire for Super Series tournaments in different countries

BWF Junior World Championships (2018), Markham, Canada

BWF Senior World Championships

BWF Sudirman Cup World Team Championships at Gold Coast, Australia and Nanning, China

Commonwealth Games (2010), New Delhi

Thomas and Uber Cup tournament in different countries

Japan Open Super Series (2012), Tokyo

World Championships in China

World Championship in Glasgow, Scotland

Veterans World Seniors, Cochin, Kerala

Denmark Open 2017, Odense, Denmark

Asian Games 2018, Jakarta, Indonesia

Officiating achievements of Vinay Joshi

Commonwealth Games, Delhi (2010) and Glasgow (2014)

Asian Games, Incheon (2014) and Jakarta (2018)

Youth Olympics (2014), Nanjing, China

World Championships (2009 & 2014)

Junior World Championships (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019)

Veterans World Championships (2018)

Thomas & Uber Cup (2014)

Sudirman Cup (2011, 2013, 2017)

Asian Mixed Team Championships (2018)

Asian Badminton Championships (2018, 2019)

Youth Commonwealth Games (2008)

Asian Youth Games (2013)