Aryaan Bhatia has become the first Indian tennis player to fail a doping test and has been put under provisional suspension by India’s National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
The teenagers’ urine sample was collected during the Fenesta Open, National Tennis Championship. The banned substance was said to be from a medicine of cough syrup prescribed by a doctor, with the player unaware of the constituents.
Hironmoy Chatterjee, Secretary of the India Tennis Association claimed it was a case of ignorance, and called for NADA to excuse the player since he is a junior that made a mistake due to lack of awareness.
India’s NADA also provisionally suspended seven other athletes from different sports.