New Delhi, November 21: The Sports Authority of India (SAI), through the Target Asian Games Group (TAGG) scheme, is ensuring India’s karatekas get the best exposure in the critical build-up to the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
SAI has approved a 45-day Senior National Coaching Camp for karate, currently under way from 17 November to 31 December at the SAI Regional Centre, Lucknow. The camp features 64 members, including 48 athletes, 12 coaches, and 4 support staff, and the entire camp has been sanctioned with financial assistance of ₹1.42 Crore under the Assistance to National Sports Federations (ANSFs) Scheme.
One of the key takeaways of the camp is to ensure the identified 48 core athletes – 24 male and 24 female – get full access to training facilities and continue their high-performance training despite NSF derecognition. The camp ensures coaching support, Sports Science support, equipment, recovery inputs, and seamless preparation of both the men’s and women’s squads.
At a time when Asian Games qualification standards and international benchmarks are rapidly rising, the national coaching camp in Lucknow will further identify top talents who will receive foreign exposure opportunities in the build-up to the Asian Games, scheduled from September 19 to October 4, 2026.
Due to the situation where no National Sports Federations (NSFs) are recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS), SAI had constituted an Organising Committee for Karate in July this year to manage all aspects of the sport— including athlete selection, coaching camps, and foreign exposure.
To ensure a transparent and fair selection pathway, the committee conducted Open National Selection Trials in the Senior Category from 12–14 October at the SAI Training Centre, NEHU Campus, Shillong.
The trials were managed entirely by the Karate Organising Committee of SAI, ensuring compliance with international norms, anti-doping rules, and videography-based evaluation.
The committee will remain functional until an NSF is officially recognised by MYAS, ensuring athletes face no administrative hurdles during their preparation cycle. Besides Karate, similar committees are also governing martial arts disciplines such as Ju-Jitsu and Kurash.