Top Women Weight Lifters dropped from 2010 CWG elite list

Shailaja, Renubala to be dropped from 2010 CWG elite list

Four top women lifters of the country, including Shailaja Pujari, will be dropped from the core group for the 2010 Commonwealth Games preparations after they failed to report for the national camp in time, Indian Weightlifting Federation said on Sunday.

Pujari, Renubala Chanu, S Yamini and Shristi Singh were among 60 elite lifters selected for 2010 Commonwealth Games training which started in February but the quartet did not turn up for the camp at Patiala despite given an extended time to join.

IWF President Harbhajan Singh said that the four lifters would not be allowed to join the camp as the extended dateline for doing so has expired on April 10.

"First they did not join the camp in February and they did not furnish us the reasons in writing. Secondly, they failed to report by April 10, the last date for joining the camp. We are going to drop them," Harbhajan said from Lucknow.

Pujari won three gold in 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games in 75 kg while Renu Bala won the yellow metal in the 2006 Melbourne Games in 58 kg. Yamini won a bronze in 58 kg in the National Championships in Pune early this year while Shristi Singh earned a silver in 69 kg in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune last year.

Their hopes of taking part in 2010 Commonwealth Games are as good as over with Harbhajan saying that any lifter outside the elite list would not be considered unless he or she came up with some extraordinary performance in national championships later this year.

"We are not going to add anybody to the elite list unless he or she performs extraordinarily well, such as breaking some records -- national or Commonwealth or Asian -- in the National Championships.

"If we have to add any lifter we would not know his or her status of dope testing whereas those in the national camp will be constantly monitored from the very beginning. That is why we are not likely to add any lifter later on," Harbhajan explained.

While announcing the elite list for training camp, the IWF had said that the number of lifters would be pruned down from 60 to 45 by the end of December and to 30 by June next year.

India is expected to compete in each of the 15 categories (eight men and seven women) in weightlifting in 2010 Commonwealth Games and the IWF would select a lifter out of the two who will remain after June 2010.