Indian national hockey umpire Deepak Joshi to officiate globally

Deepak Joshi(R) with Raghu Prasad

National level hockey official Deepak Joshi was recently promoted to the International stage by the International Hockey Federation (IHF). The promotion came after the international governing body of hockey, IHF, evaluated his performance at the U-21 Junior Volvo Invitational Tournament held in Netherlands.

India also participated at the U-21 Junior Volvo Invitational Tournament where the men’s team, led by Harjeet Singh won just 2 match while losing 3 and drawing 1. The women’s team skippered by senior team striker Rani Rampal mirrored the results of the men’s team with 2 wins, 3 losses and a solitary draw. However, the women’s team beat New Zealand 6-1 in the match of the tournament.

Hockey India (HI) Secretary General Mohd. Mushtaque Ahmad described the promotion as an achievement for Hockey India.

The Hockey India quoted him as saying, “This is another achievement of Hockey India as we not only produce the best international players, but also international level umpires.”

The HI Secretary General shared his pride a Deepak’s achievements and shared the reasons behind the young umpire’s success.

“Deepak is very professional about his work and his consistent hard work has paved the way for this reward. Hockey India feels proud of the young umpire achievements and we congratulate Deepak for this new feat. Hockey India wishes him good luck for his future,” he said.

Deepak Joshi’s history with hockey

Deepak has had a vast experience in playing hockey before he resorted to officiating the sport after taking up a job with India’s governing body for the sport – Hockey India. He had represented the Indian state of Uttrakhand at the National Championships from 2007 to 2010.

The 27-year-old player-umpire completed a Diploma in Sports Coaching from National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala in 2011 and started working at the institute as a coach. Right now, he is also the head coach of the Delhi hockey team.

Joshi started his career as an umpire from the SAIL National College Championship in 2012. He also officiated at the recently concluded National Games in Kerala this year, which was the 35^th edition, and is now a regular face at the National Championships.

Earlier this year, 24-year-old Deepa Kumari was also promoted to the international scene in women's hockey. Now, with Deepak and Deepa, a total of 13 Indian umpires (nine men, four women) are now in the category of international level umpires and officiate FIH tournaments around the world.