India is yet to win a medal at the international level, and has never participated in the Asian Games.

Mistry said, ``Since fewer teams are participating here, our karatekas stand a better chance.''

India's participation abroad has been infrequent -- the last instance being the Macau Asian Championship in 1997.

Mistry explained, ``There is a dearth of finance, and AIKF is in a no-win situation. The government asks us to prove ourselves to deserve funding, but how do we do that if we are not encouraged to participate?''