New Delhi: The Indian Sports Ministry allocated Rs. 5 crores for Judo ahead of Asian Games 2022. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) formed a committee of eminent Judo athletes that conducted selection trials for a month-long national preparatory camp starting May 01.
The Committee members include ex-Olympian and Arjuna Awardee Cawas Billimoria, ex-Olympians Sandeep Byala, ex-Olympian Sunith Thakur and Judo masters Arun Dwivedi, and Yogesh K Dhadve.
The committee was formed after de-recognition of the Judo Federation of India (JFI) on April 22, 2022. The Ministry sanctioned Rs. 5 crore for the training and competition of the athletes for the upcoming Asian Games and other international competitions.
A total of 112 athletes comprising 56 men and 56 women teams will be a part of the camp to be held in SAI NSNIS in Patiala and the IG Stadium in New Delhi, respectively. Top 8 athletes (men and women) will be shortlisted from 7 weight categories for the camps.
A second selection round will be held on May 23 and May 24, 2022, for women’s team and on May 25 and May 26, 2022, for Men’s category to shortlist top 4 athletes from each weight category.
SAI also plans to include foreign exposure and camps for Junior and Cadet Group Judo athletes, as per reports.
(Avya Mathur)