New Delhi, Jul 11 (IANS): Hockey India on Monday congratulated Rama Pramod Potnis and Sourabh Singh Rajput for receiving promotions from the FIH Officials Committee.
Rama Pramod Potnis was promoted as FIH International Panel Umpire and Sourabh Singh Rajput was promoted as FIH Advancement Panel Umpire for Outdoor Hockey.
Potnis started officiating in May 2014 and has officiated in numerous major domestic tournaments such as the 8th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2018 (A Division) held in Ranchi, Jharkhand, 10th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2020 (A division) held in Kollam, Kerala, 11th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2021 held in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh and 12th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2022 held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
She has also officiated in Khelo India Youth Games 2019 (Girls U17 & U21) held in Pune, Maharashtra, Khelo India Youth Games 2020 (Women U17 & U21) held in Guwahati, Assam, Khelo India University Games 2020 (Women) held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 2nd Khelo India University Games 2021 (Women) held in Bengaluru, Karnataka, 4th Khelo India Youth Games 2021 (Under 18 Women's) held in Panchkula, Haryana are among others.
Potnis from Maharashtra started her international career as an umpire at the South Asia Games held in Guwahati, India in 2016 and she also went on to officiate at the 5 Nations Invitational (Valencia) - Junior Women in the same year. Potnis also umpired in major events such as the Women's Junior AHF Cup 2019 held in Singapore and the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2021 held in Donghae City, South Korea.
Speaking about her promotion, Potnis said, "I am feeling very excited as I have been waiting for this promotion for a long time. I will have more responsibilities now. And this promotion has been possible only because of Hockey India. If they didn't give me an opportunity, then I wouldn't have been able to get this chance. Through this promotion, I could get more exposure to international competitions."
Sourabh Singh Rajput from Maharashtra began his domestic career in 2010 as an umpire and has officiated in the 8th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2018 (A Division) held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Khelo India Youth Games 2019 (Boys U21) held in Mumbai, Maharashtra, 10th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2020 (A division) held in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, 12th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2022 held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and the 2nd Khelo India University Games 2021 (Men) held in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Soon after, Rajput earned an opportunity in officiating at the 8 Nations Invitational Tournament (U 21) 2019 held in Madrid, Spain.
Rajput also umpired in major tournaments such as the Asian Champions Trophy Dhaka 2021 and Hero Asia Cup 2022 held in Jakarta, Indonesia including the Final of the latter competition.
Speaking about his promotion, Rajput said, "This is an important step for me. I have worked very hard for this promotion. I would like to thank Hockey India for showing belief in me and giving me opportunities. This promotion will give me an opportunity to officiate in major international tournaments conducted by FIH & AHF respectively."