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In a big update coming in with regards to the Indian contingent for the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics, a member set to be part of the wrestling team for the mega event has been provisionally suspended after failing a dope test during the recent qualifiers in Bulgaria. This comes as a massive shock for India with seven weeks to go for the Summer Games.
The incident happens to be the second successive occasion of an Indian wrestler being caught in dope test before the Olympics as even Narsingh Pancham Yadav had failed to clear the test prior to the 2016 Rio Olympics and was subsequently handed a four-year ban. This time around it is the 28-year-old Sumit Malik.
Notably, the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the 125 kg category at the Bulgaria event which was also the last chance for wrestlers to earn quotas. However, with the recent development, Malik's Olympic dreams seem to be over for now.
Malik can be banned from the sport
"The UWW (United World Wrestling) informed the Wrestling Federation of India yesterday that Sumit has failed the dope test. Now he has to give his B sample on June 10," a Wrestling Federation of India source was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
"He must have taken something unknowingly. Maybe he was taking some Ayurvedic medicine to treat his injured knee and that might have contained some banned substances," the source added.
Notably, if Malik's B sample also tests positive, he can be banned from the sport.