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Monday, Oct 13, 2008
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Odyssey of international referee

Staff Reporter

Height is not a handicap to excel in basketball, he says

Rajnarayan Patro

BERHAMPUR: Orissa may be in the nascent state in basketball as per international standards yet it has an international referee of the sport in the form of Rajkumar Patro.

This youth from the city is among the 13 international referees of basketball in India. As a basketball player he had excelled in national level and was playing for the senior team of Madhya Pradesh.

He had represented Orissa team in junior and sub-junior level. His father late Narasimha Patro and the brother of his grandfather, Chaitanya Patro played a major role in creating interest for basketball in him. They felt it was his sport as from childhood he had the signs of attaining a good height and physique.

Mr Patro became a national referee of basketball in 2002 and in 2004 his talent and understanding of the game earned him the cap to be an international referee. As an international referee of basketball in Doha Asiad he was the only face from Orissa to participate in the Asiad.

He continues to officiate several International basketball events like the International Invitation Women’s Tournament in Phuket in Thailand and the recently concluded 20th u-8 Asian Basketball Tournament played in Tehran. He is now employed by the BSNL in the city.

He also works hard as a coach to create interest among children towards basketball. He denies the allegation that Indians have the handicap of height in comparison to their counterparts in Western countries.

According to him the average height of Indian basketball players is 6.1 feet which is normal as per International standards. “We only need more skill and stamina which can come from hard work,” he says.

He dreams of the day when basketball would become glamour sport in India like what it is in USA to attract young people towards the game in which there is no easy way to success except sweating it out. “But till date basic sport like athletics do not get proper patronage this can never happen,” he said.

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