Mumbai: Of late, Indian sportspersons have been in the news all the wrong reasons, a case in point being India's fastest woman runner, Dutee Chand. But there is also some cause for cheer on the tennis front, as the first tennis player from Mumbai, Aryaan Bhatai, who was reprimanded after being provisionally suspended for doping, has been cleared by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and is back in the game, this time on a tennis court. In February, Ayraan was slapped with the provisional suspension by NADA after he failed the dope test conducted during the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship held in New Delhi. After six months of being away from playing competitive tennis, he is back, after NADA cleared his name.
Aryaan, who began playing at the PracTennis in Andheri, had consumed cough syrup and some tablets to treat his cold and cough, unaware that one of the tablets he swallowed had 1.5% of the banned substance, Prednisole. But now, that is history. It is tough to fight off doping charges but Aryaan kept himself in the game, certain that he would be able to clear his name. He ignored the buzz around his future and kept working on his fitness. This grit and determination to stay the course even when the going got rough is why he is in Chandigarh today, playing in the AITA men’s tournament.
“What is amazing for me is how Aryaan has used this time away from competition to work on his fitness and on getting rid of the technical flaws in his game. I think it’s a great tribute to his resilience and he can now look forward to playing on the tour once more and put this behind him," said Nadan Bal, the former Indian Davis Cup coach. Bal added, “I think that a lot of institutions need to be thanked, mainly the AITA and MSLTA, who backed Aryaan fully and NADA themselves, who have given him a very fair hearing. "Hopefully, we won’t have a situation like this again and it would be great to see the AITA and MSLTA do awareness programs through experts in this field to help other junior players avoid a situtation like this because of ignorance." “My family, friends and especially Nandan sir, have been with me all this while. My focus on fitness and keeping myself occupied helped me live through those days. Thank God it is all over and I am back on the court,” Aryaan told The Free Press Journal on Saturday from Chandigarh.
- FPJ Sports Desk
