KUALA LUMPUR: A pilot by profession and a hockey lover by nature, umpire Eric Koh has blown the final whistle on his illustrious international career.
For over 13 years, he umpired at the junior and senior World Cups, Commonwealth Games and FIH Pro-League Semifinals, but missed out on the Olympics.
While taking a flight to Bhubaneswar, India, for the 2018 World Cup, Eric quipped he was just a passenger, not the pilot.
The 36-year-old unwittingly started his umpiring career during a schools six-a-side tournament when the organisers were short of match officials, and they handed Eric the whistle.
Eric, who was a state-level player, accepted the task, and since then went on to umpire at some of the highest level FIH tournaments around the world.
He went for an FIH umpiring course in 2002, attaining international class in 2009 and oficiated his first match in Canberra, Australia.
The World Cup will again be held in Bhubaneswar-Roukela in January next year, but Eric and his whistle will be missing.