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 players' moves are a result of their decisions. Perfection is their domain for they cannot afford to make mistakes. Concentration, decision-making ability, unbiased judgements—it'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. “During one of the tournaments I realised that getting good judges was a very difficult task and decided to plunge into the field,” he said. Barve was a badminton player as well and has an anecdote to support his career move. “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,” 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, "I completed my ABC accreditation in 2008 in Malaysia."

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