KATHMANDU: A Nepali karate team has left for Japan on Friday to prepare for the 20th Asian Games (Asiad) to be held in Japan.

The team was bid farewell by Education and Sports Minister Sasmit Pokhrel and other officials of the National Sports Council (NSC) at Tribhuvan International Airport on Friday. With the special initiative of Education Minister Pokharel, the players representing Nepal in the Asian Games have got the opportunity to get VIP access for the first time.

“We are happy to provide VIP access to the airport for the first time as a small effort to respect the players. Best wishes to all the players,” Minister Pokharel wrote on Facebook.

According to Education Minister Pokharel, the initiative has been taken to honor and encourage the national players, and the VIP room has been arranged to show respect to the players representing Nepal in the international forum.

Minister Pokharel expressed pride for representing Nepal in the big international forum and expressed his belief that the Nepali athletes would compete with full dedication.

Stating that the VIP access provided to the players is taken as a small effort to show respect to the players who are working hard for the country, Minister Rokhrel expressed the belief that such initiatives would be important to boost the morale of the players in the international competitions.

Karate is the first team from Nepal to reach Japan out of 22 sports to participate in the Asiad. The team will train at the main dojo of World Shitoryo Karate in Tokyo from September 6 to 16. After the training, the team will leave for Nagoya from Tokyo on September 17 to host the Asian Games. The karate tournament will be held from September 20 to 23.

Rakesh Manandhar (U-55kg), Min Bahadur Tamang (U-60kg) and Tenzing Sherpa (above-84kg) will compete in the men’s category. Erica Gurung (above 68kg), Nirupa Dong Tamang (U-68kg) and Sanu Maya Thing (singles) will compete in the women’s category.

Sanu Maya Thing, Alisha Raskoti and Megha Limbu will be part of the team. The team is coached by Kushal Shrestha and Mande Kaji Shrestha.

National Sports Council (NSC) vice-president Bishal Shrestha, member-secretary Ramcharitra Mehta, chief advisor of the Ministry of Education and Sports Siddhi Byanjankar and advisor Raju Singh among others bade farewell to the team.