A powerlifter at the selection trials. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, March 15: Powerlifters dreaming of glory in next month’s Asian championships in Uzbekistan could have their flights grounded because they don’t have passports.

An inquiry during the selection trials for the formation of the national team for the Asian meet revealed that some promising powerlifters don’t have passports and could be omitted from the squad.

The two-day selection trials concluded at the JRD Tata Sports Complex today. The Asian championships will be held from April 28 to May 2 at Zarafshan in Uzbekistan.

The Indian Powerlifting Federation (IPF), which conducted the trials, has asked the lifters who do not have passports to make their documents ready before the team leaves for Uzbekistan.

IPF officials told The Telegraph that at least five promising lifters, who won medals at the junior national championship last year, do not have passports.

“They will be left out if they do not deposit their passports with IPF,” said the official, who did not wish to be named.

Elaborating on the point, he said, Gopeshwar Kumar, a promising city-based powerlifter, had failed to get a berth in the Indian team in 2002 because he did not have the document.

“He was in the national sub-junior team for the world meet in Russia in 2002. He was omitted from the team at the last moment,” the IPF official said, adding that the country lost a sure-shot medal. Kumar later went on to claim the silver in the sub-junior nationals at Lucknow last year.

The five lifters who don’t possess passports are all potential medal-winners. They have won medals in the national meets of various age-groups. Some of them have even found a place in the national team for the Asian meet.

One such lifter who does not have a passport is Poonam Dinda of Uttar Pradesh. “She clinched the silver in the 56-kg category during the last junior nationals. We have asked her to make sure that her passport was ready before the team left for the venue,” said Subrata Dutta, secretary-general of IPF.

Dinda has already left for her home. The secretary-general, though concerned, said the problem would be solved.