London, Sep 23: Indian tennis player Parikshit Somani was on Wednesday banned for four years in a doping case after testing positive for prohibited substance trimetazidine.
Somani receives doping ban
The 26-year-old Somani, whose career ranking rose to No. 256 in doubles, tested positive for the banned medication while participating in an ATP Challenger event last year in Astana, Kazakhstan.
"An independent tribunal has suspended Indian tennis player Parikshit Somani for four years under tennis' anti-doping rules," the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said.
Somani has been provisionally suspended since September 23, 2025, and the independent tribunal banned him till September 2029.
Contamination claim examined
"In late 2025, while provisionally suspended, Somani accessed the ITIA's player support programme to investigate multiple prospective sources of contamination, but the products tested negative for trimetazidine at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, USA," the ITIA said.
In February 2026, the player asserted that he had consumed food prepared by a family member, which had been contaminated by the family member's medicine during the food production process.
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"This became the basis of Somani's explanation at a hearing before an independent tribunal on 19 August 2026. Having considered expert scientific opinions presented by Somani and the ITIA, the independent tribunal concluded that the food contamination theories were "scientifically implausible", "highly speculative", and "unconvincing"."
Tribunal issues suspension
"The tribunal determined that Somani had not established the source of the prohibited substance found in his sample, and therefore no mitigating circumstances apply. In line with tennis' anti-doping rules, the tribunal issued Somani with a four-year suspension."
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