CNN Central News & Network-ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: Indian tennis player Parikshit Somani has been banned for four years for violating anti-doping rules. According to the International Tennis Integrity Agency, a sample collected from him during an ATP Challenger tournament held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on July 31, 2025, was found to contain the prohibited substance trimetazidine.
Somani had been provisionally suspended from September 23, 2025. Following the decision of an independent tribunal, his period of ineligibility will run until September 22, 2029. The period of provisional suspension already served has been included while determining the sanction.
Somani had argued that the prohibited substance may have entered his body through possible contamination of food prepared by a family member. He claimed there could have been inadvertent contact during food preparation with medication used by the family member. Potential sources were also tested to examine this claim.
After considering the available scientific and expert evidence, the independent tribunal did not accept the possible contamination processes cited by Somani. The tribunal held that Somani was unable to establish the source of the trimetazidine found in his sample. As a result, no reduction was considered applicable and a four-year period of ineligibility was imposed.
Under the decision, the Astana event and related results obtained up to September 23, 2025, have also been disqualified. Ranking points, prize money and other related benefits will also be affected.
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