THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer
, who became the first Indian to be nominated as a member of the powerful umpires and referees committee (URC) of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is so elated after his appointment that he confessed that his next wish is to do his role pretty well in future Olympics Games and Asian Games.
If the term as URC member is for a period of two years and can be extended, in another first Ganeshan has also been recommended as the technical commissioner from Asia to the ITTF and his term will run for four years.
Ganeshan, 56, hails from Thiruvananthapuram and is the only assigned competition manager of the ITTF, the world governing body of table tennis.
Earlier last week, the Indian Overseas Bank officer who quit his job in 2011 to turn first pro referee in the country, was elected chairman of the
South Asian Federation
technical committee and a member of the technical committee of the
Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation
.
Ganeshan, a small-time college level player, turned to umpiring in 1982 where he showed his prowess and graduated to become referee soon. In 1998, when the national was held in Kozhikode, he became the chief referee and made his international debut in 2000 Commonwealth Championship at Singapore where his performance was noticed.
"I consider that my show in Singapore event took me to this level. There were several top shots among players and officials, I made sure that the entire event is completed without a single murmur,” Ganeshan told TOI.
"I took the cue from late MC Chauhan, former president
Table Tennis Federation of India
who first noticed me in Kozhikode and later DR Chaudhary, the TTFI chief till recently. They both helped me a lot by polishing me to be a top-notch referee and then to competitions manager who runs a major tournament without any hitch. I would also like to thank KR Pillai, father of Olympian Amkika Suresh, who guided me in my initial days."
Ganeshan's high as competition manager was the recent Asian championships at Wuxi in China and the role of deputy referee in the Kuala Lumpur World Championships 2016. Another milestone in his career is competition manger and referee role in the 2010 Delhi
Commonwealth Games
and 2014 Galsgow Commonwealth Games.
"I follow the rule book," said the soft-spoken Ganeshan when asked about his USP and hopes to bring more Indian referees to the international radar by bringing more ITTF referees courses to India.
"My new role as technical commissioner will take me to 2018 Jakarta Asian Games but to become an 'Olympian' I still have to wait. And my final personal wish is to become permanent staff of ITTF, once I reach that level, I will retire," concluded Ganeshan.
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