India’s Girish Natu appointed as Badminton Asia’s deputy chairman of technical committee

Girish Natu was appointed deputy chairman of the technical committee by Badminton Asia on Friday. Senior Indian badminton official Girish Natu will serve his two-year term from July 1, 2021 to May 24, 2023.

The post of deputy chairman of the technical committee was vacant after the demise of Sudhakar Vemuri. The 70-year-old Sudhakar Vemuri was the deputy chairman of the technical committee but succumbed to COVID-19 on May 18 in Hyderabad.

The respected BWF official Sudhakar, who has been battling COVID-19 in a private hospital in Hyderabad for a couple of weeks, passed away due to the deadly virus. He has the distinction of representing India in three Olympics besides many World championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games in different roles as an official.

Girish Natu will replace the late Sudhakar Vemuri

The post of deputy chairman will remain with India with the appointment of Girish Natu after the passing away of Sudhakar Vemuri.

Badminton Asia Secretary General Moosa Nashid stated in the issued letter:

“We are delighted to have you as part of the Badminton Asia committee. We are confident that the Board will benefit immensely from your rich experience."

The 57-year-old Pune-based Girish Natu was pleased to regain his place as deputy chairman of the technical committee. He served two successive terms until 2019.

“I was first appointed as deputy chairman by Badminton Asia from 2015 to 2017. Then they asked me to continue for another two-year term which ended in 2019. I am happy that I got a chance again. I will try my best to live up to their expectations,” said Girish Natu, a certified BWF referee.

Girish Natu (centre) with fellow BWF officials

Natu, a former BWF umpire, is looking forward to his new role and thanked the Badminton Association of India for its support.

“Since I was there for four years, I know what is expected of me. We have to plan well in advance about all the international tournaments happening in Asia. The appointments of umpires, referees and other technical officials for a particular tournament are the main task of deputy chairman. It also involves training the umpires and officials and providing guidance to them through various courses, seminars and workshops. I have to now plan for the season ahead and get started soon,” said Natu.

Badminton Asia is the Asian wing of the Badminton World Federation. The chairman of the technical committee is Chen Chih-Shen of Chinese Taipei.