New Delhi [India], November 21 (ANI): 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 underway from 17 November to 31 December at the SAI Regional Centre in Lucknow, according to a release from SAI.

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 Rs 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 female each- get full access to training facilities and continue their high-performance training despite NSF derecognition. The camp is ensuring coaching & Sports Science support, equipment, recovery inputs, and seamless preparation for 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 the cream of talents who will go through exposure opportunities abroad in the build-up to the Asian Games, scheduled from September 19 to October 4 next year.

Owing to the situation where no NSFs are recognised by the MYAS, SAI had constituted an Organising Committee for Karate in July this year to manage all aspects of the sport, from athlete selection to coaching camps and foreign exposure.

To ensure a transparent and fair selection pathway, the aforementioned committee had conducted Open National Selection Trials in the Senior Category from 12-14 October at the SAI Training Centre in NEHU Campus, Shillong.

The trials were fully managed by the Karate Organising Committee of SAI, ensuring compliance with international norms, anti-doping rules, and videography-based evaluation.

The said committee will remain functional until an NSF is officially recognised by the MYAS, thus ensuring that athletes face no administrative hurdles in their preparation cycle. Besides Karate, a similar committee is also governing martial arts sports, Ju-Jitsu and Kurash. (ANI)