Kabaddi's Best Technical Officials from India- Kripa Shankar and Ajit Kumar

Technical Officials play a major role in a sport like Kabaddi where the decisions provided on court have immense effect in the outcome of the game. So it becomes super important to have top quality referees and umpires on mat to ensure fair play to teams playing which will ensure the quality of Kabaddi stays on top. It is a tough ask to officiate a Kabaddi match as everything happens in a fraction of a second and it is very difficult for a human brain to catch every bit of the action and come up with a decision. Talking about top quality Technical Officials we will have to mention about Mr. Ajit Kumar and Mr. Kripa Shankar Sharma, two of the best Technical Officials in the country who have been in the ecosystem for the last 14 years. Both of them were recently seen officiating in the Bangabandhu cup 2021 tournament that concluded in Dhaka few days ago. They were the only two officials from India which speaks volumes about their officiating skills. 

Kripa Shankar Sharma who is currently employed with BSNL, started his career as player for BSNL. He has has won one bronze medal and one silver medal between 2001 and 2005 in Senior Nationals Kabaddi Championships. He also has a bronze medal in National Games Guwahati 2007. He is also serving as a Referee Board Chairman in the Rajasthan State Kabaddi Association since 2014. He got into officiating back in 2008 and has been part of Senior Nationals, Junior Nationals, Sub Junior Nationals and other national tournaments including Khelo India Games. He has also been part of international events as an technical official. He has participated in Kabaddi World Cup 2016, 5th Asian Beach Games 2016 in Vietnam, Dubai Masters Kabaddi Tournament 2018 and recently concluded Bangabandhu Cup 2021 where he was one of the only two Indians in technical official line up. Kripa Shankar Sharma has actively been part of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League since the season 3 of the league to present. In Season 5 and 7 of Pro Kabaddi League, Kripa Shankar won the best Referee of the tournament for his good and accurate officiating.

Talking about Ajit Kumar, another top class official with loads of experience under his belt has been officiating for the last 13-14 years and has been part of marquee events nationally and internationally. Passed his AKFI exam back in 2008 and got into officiating. Since then he has been part of Senior, Junior and Sub Junior Nationals, All India tournaments, and state events actively. Internationally he has been involved as a technical official in Kabaddi World Cup 2016, Asian Kabaddi Championship 2017 in Iran, Dubai Kabaddi Masters 2018 and recently concluded Bangabandhu Cup 2021 in Dhaka. He also has experience in being the competition manager of marquee events like Khelo India games and Pandit Deendayal Kabaddi Championship. Ajit has also been actively seen in Pro Kabaddi league as a technical official  since the league's inception, he won the best referee of the tournament award twice in season 3 and 5 for his good officiating. 

Both Ajit Kumar and Kripa Shankar Sharma have taken the officiating to new heights and have set a bar of expectations from other officials in the country. The achievements of these two officials will push the younger generation to take up officiating as an career option in coming future.