Bengaluru-based Asian Games-bound freestyle swimmer has been excluded from the Indian contingent after failing a dope test

Just days before the start of the Asian Games, a swimmer in the Indian contingent has failed a dope test and been withdrawn from the team, according to an official of the Swimming Federation of India. The swimmer, a minor, was part of the Asian Games-bound Indian contingent.

The Sports Ministry has excluded the swimmer’s name from the contingent competing at the 20th Asian Games, which begin on September 19 in Aichi-Nagoya, officials told sportsbackstory.com.

The latest positive test comes amid a series of doping cases involving members of the Indian contingent in sports such as wrestling, wushu and rowing.

At the time of filing this report, it was not clear which substance the junior swimmer had tested positive for. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), it is learnt, has completed the hearing process, but the final verdict is pending. Since the case has not been decided, the Sports Ministry has not cleared the swimmer’s participation.

The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are still a couple of weeks away, but doping has already cast a shadow over the Indian contingent.

Recently, Asian Games-bound wushu player Surya Bhanupratap Singh of Jammu and Kashmir was provisionally suspended by NADA after testing positive for the banned substance Enobosarm (Ostarine). He had been selected to compete in the men’s 65kg event. Surya won a bronze medal in the 60kg sanda category at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.

Men’s 10m air pistol shooter Gaurav Kumar, rower Lakshya (lightweight double scull), Greco-Roman wrestler Deepanshu (130kg) and long-distance runner Abhishek Pal are among other prominent Asian Games-bound athletes who have been dropped from the Indian contingent over doping-related issues.

Several Indian athletes bound for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games had also tested positive for banned substances, including weightlifter N. Ajith in the 71kg category.

EOM