Singapore hosts first judge seminar on Asian continent in seven years

Twelve technical officials have been upgraded to international judge candidate status after an accreditation seminar on 2-4 June in Singapore, jointly hosted by World Archery and World Archery Asia, which certified new continental judges.

It was the first judge seminar to take place in Asia in seven years.

Of the 60-plus participants, 24 were eligible to sit the candidate exam, with half passing. Nine of the newly accreditated international candidates are from Asia, two from Europe and one from the Americas.

Among the two European officials to pass was Marusa Gajic, an international youth judge from Slovenia, who has taken the fast track to the sport’s highest level of accreditation through the youth programme.

The seminar lasted three days and included information on new rules, an overall review of the disciplines of target, para, field and 3D archery, as well as an on-site competition field session.

“The seminar was beneficial not only in terms of knowledge from the instructors, it enabled interaction and socialisation among judges to foster greater bonding within the judge community,” said Min Wei Sng from Singapore.

The seminar was led by India’s Indranil Datta and Robert Erica of the Netherlands, deputy chair and member of World Archery judges committee, respectively, and Karla Cabrera from the Philippines, chair of the judge commission at the Asia Cup in Singapore and an international judge since 2006.

“It was a great way for me to give back to archery in general, and judging in particular,” Cabrera said. “Class interaction was vibrant, and I am confident the participants went back to their countries as better judges after attending the seminar.”

This is the second accreditation seminar since the pandemic, with the 12 new officials joining the 18 selected in April 2022 in Colombia.

New international judge candidates

The following 12 people have been accredited as international judge candidates.

• Benjamin Ajeti, Austria
• Liliana Ayoubi, Syria
• Chu YikFai Sunny Rachel, Hong Kong China
• Eric Davis, USA
• Marusa Gajic, Slovenia
• Samaneh Sadat Hosseini Farahabadi, Iran
• Seyedehzahra Hosseini, Iran
• Pangestu Insani Jantan, Indonesia
• Siew Kie Law, Malaysia
• Nanaka Matsuyama, Japan
• Min-Wei Sng, Singapore
• Thivanka Nambukara Wellalage, Sri Lanka