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Asian Games 2026: Karate Champion Alisha Chaudhary to Compete Without Coach, Team Leader Named Instead
Asian champion Alisha Chaudhary will compete at the Asian Games without her coach. Alisha (55 kg) and Chetan Bhatt (84 kg) are being sent with a team leader instead of a coach. Alisha requested to be accompanied by her coach Vikas, but the IOA cited a longlist.
An Asian Games medal aspirant and karate player, Alisha Chaudhary, who emerged an Asian champion in June, will be competing without a coach. Alisha (55 kg) and Chetan Bhatt (84 kg) will be the two karate players representing India in Asian Games, but they will have a team leader (manager) accompanying them rather than a coach and the team leader will not be permitted to sit on the mat as a coach.
A coach, sitting in the coaching corner, can raise a review in case of any injustice to his or her athlete. Alisha claims that she had been asking the IOA to send her coach Vikas, but finally she is to be sent with a team leader, Adikesava Perumal, whom she has never even met.
There had been a row within the Karate Federation and consequently, by July, it was decided that the karate contingent will not take part in Asian Games. But when the issue went up to the Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, he gave approval to the participation of Alisha, who recently won the title of Asian Champion in Bali, and Chetan Bhatt, who came fifth. There were no names of any karate coaches in the Asian Games longlist. When Alisha was selected for the Asian Games, she asked the IOA last month to send her coach with her.
