She was the first woman referee from India to officiate in 88 international hockey matches

The first Indian woman umpire who started her international career in 2004 and the first woman referee from India to officiate in 88 international hockey matches Mundanda (Puchimanda) Anupama, wife of Mundanda Mithun Mandanna of Nelaji village in Kodagu, passed away in Bengaluru this morning. She was 41.

She was selected by the Federation of International Hockey as one of the youngest umpires among ten men and women in the world. She had a passion for sports when she was nine and since then she never looked back. She was the first woman referee from India to officiate in 88 international hockey matches, junior world cup and three Commonwealth Games.

Born to Puchimanda Shivappa and Shanthi Shivappa (Achhandira) at Bittangala, Anupama was awarded the Best Umpire (Women) India by Sardar Gyan Singh Memorial Hockey Society in 2007. Anupama represented India in the umpires seminar held at Singapore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Chandigarh and New Delhi and represented Karnataka as a player in the sub-junior and senior women’s National Hockey Championships. She officiated as the umpire in the four-nation tournament held at Singapore in 2007 and refereed the finals between Australia Vs Malaysia.

She was the umpire in the three-nation tournament held at Italy and also umpired the Central American and Caribbean games, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2006. In 2008, Anupama officiated as the umpire for two four-nation tournament at Rotterdam in Holland and also at Bremen in Germany. Anupama umpired the Junior Asia Cup held at Malaysia in and was the umpire in the youth Olympic Games held at Australia in 2009.

She started her sports career at the age of nine as an amateur athlete at Sports School Kudige in Kodagu. At 13, she joined the Sports Authority of India, Madikeri, where she got into hockey. She represented the State in sub-junior and senior national championships several times. She has also officiated in events in Asia, Africa, and America and European continents.

She had a passion for umpiring and she cleared the umpiring exam in 2001 and first officiated as an umpire at Cheppudira Family Hockey Tournament in Kodagu and went onto make international name and fame. Anupama’s goal was to be an Olympics umpire. “I am happy I chose this profession. This motivates me to focus more on the job and I will be happy if one day I get to officiate in the Olympics,” she had stated in one of her interviews.

Recently Anupama was selected as Executive Council Member by Karnataka State Hockey Association.