Sport · India Bureau
Indian tennis player Somani handed four-year doping ban
An independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency has suspended Indian tennis player Parikshit Somani for four years following a positive dope test at an ATP Challenger tournament in Kazakhstan. The 26-year-old tested positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine in July 2025.
LSN India ·
Somani, who achieved a career-high doubles ranking of 256 in July 2023, tested positive for trimetazidine during competition in Astana on July 31, 2025. He was placed under provisional suspension on September 23, 2025, pending a full hearing before the integrity agency's tribunal.
In his defence, Somani claimed in February 2026 that he had consumed food prepared by a family member that had been inadvertently contaminated with the family member's medication during preparation. He presented this explanation during a hearing before an independent tribunal on August 19, 2026.
However, after considering expert scientific opinions from both Somani and the International Tennis Integrity Agency, the tribunal determined that the food contamination theory was "scientifically implausible" and rejected his explanation. The tribunal subsequently upheld the four-year suspension, effectively ending Somani's competitive tennis career for the duration of the ban.