New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS): Indian girl Vasuki Sunkavalli missed the crown at the Miss Universe pageant. Another year gone and another opportunity lost. While some say changing selection criteria affects choice of winners, others feel the contestants are not groomed enough to represent the country on a global platform.

"I think the pageant could be biased because such pageants want to woo different countries at different times. So a few years back it was India and, now it's a different nation," designer Amit GT told IANS.

Grooming expert Meher Bhasin feels another reason for losing out is that Indian girls lack confidence.

"Pageants are now totally based on a country's economy and also which is a growing market. And the Miss Indias are not the top quality of girls that we have. I feel they lack grooming skills; as a result they don't reflect the confidence needed to win the crown," grooming expert Meher Bhasin told IANS.

It has been a decade-long dry spell for Indian beauty queens. This year Vasuki was selected to represent the country at the gala event, but she also failed to be in the top 10.

The Hyderabad girl, a known name in the fashion world, tweeted Tuesday after being voted out of the competition: "Sorry, if I upset many. I did give it my best shot. May the most deserving girl win..."

Girls from 89 countries participated in the Miss Universe pageant this year and Vasuki was the oldest at 27 years. It was Leila Lopes from Angola who took the coveted crown home.

Sushmita Sen was the first to win the Miss Universe title in 1994 and Lara Dutta was the last Indian to triumph at the pageant in 2000. In 1994, Aishwarya Rai became the first to bring home the Miss World title while Priyanka Chopra was the last to win it in 2000.

Till 2009, the Femina Miss India title holders participated in the Miss Universe pageant, but since 2010 Sushmita's organisation, I Am She, has been choosing India's official entry for the Miss Universe. Their first candidate was Ushoshi Sen Gupta who couldn't even make it to the top 20.

Amit GT points out that Indian girls are not motivated enough as they have many other lucrative career options.

"We should also check whether Indian contestants are enthusiastic enough to participate, as girls are searching for many different avenues like television and modelling which sound lucrative; so they never consider going for beauty pageants to get name and fame," he said.

Success at the international beauty pageant also depends upon the selection criteria, which keep changing every year, says Lubna Adams, choreographer for I Am She.

"There are some criteria which are required for a contestant to represent her country at the Miss Universe Crown and these keep on changing every season. For example, earlier male models with a healthy body were in demand for the runways, but nowadays designers are looking for lean body.

"So the jury for the Miss Universe may have their own specific criteria for selecting contestants," she said.

Stylist Ambika Pillai said time is not favouring the Indian girls unlike a few years ago when they were on a winning spree.

"It's not that our girls are any less better looking. The degree of beauty is the same; it's just that India at that point of time was hot on the international market - India opened its doors for all the MNCs to enter its market.

"Now I guess some other country is in India's shoes. Our girls remain beautiful," Pillai told IANS