Olympic bronze medallist lifter Karnam Malleswari, pretty much out of the loop in recent times, has been included in the national camp in preparation for the upcoming Asian weightlifting championships to be held in Kanazawa City, Japan, in April. This has raised many eyebrows.

The Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) prior to the Bhubaneswar senior national meet, had announced that performance at that meet will be the main criterion for selecting players for the Asian meet camp. Malleswari wasn’t among the participants.

The Sydney Games medallist is among the 14 women lifters selected for the camp beginning January 17 in Patiala. The IWF has also short-listed eight in the men’s group.

If current performance was the yardstick for the selection, what was the basis for Malleswari’s inclusion in the national camp? She has been far from impressive in recent times. After her no show at the Athens Olympics, she hasn’t been able to showcase her talent in international competitions.

In Athens, Malleswari had participated in 69kg. While there was no sign of her illness the day before her competition, or even on the morning of her competition, she failed to lift her first weight on the dais. Today, she does not enjoy that level of fitness.

Supporting Malleswari, IWF secretary Balbir Singh Bhatia said the veteran lifters is in good form which was why her name is in the camp. “She could be a medal winner in Asian competition,” said Bhatia. However, in that case she shouldn’t have skipped the Bhubaneswar competition.

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