Indian wrestler Sumit Malik gets two-year ban

New Delhi, July 2

His hopes of competing in the Olympics are all but dashed. Indian wrestler Sumit Malik was today banned for two years by the sport’s world governing body UWW after his ‘B’ sample also returned positive for a prohibited stimulant.

The 28-year-old has one week to decide if he would accept the sanction or challenge it. Malik was handed a provisional suspension last month for failing a dope test during the Olympics qualifier event in Sofia, where he had qualified for the Games in the 125kg category.

His B sample was opened on June 30 and expectedly that also provided the same result. A specified substance was found, though, the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist had told PTI that he only took painkillers to manage right knee niggle.

“Sumit Malik’s B sample has given the same result and the UWW has banned him for two years from June 3. He has a week to respond. He can call for a hearing or accept the sanction,” a source in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) said. — PTI

Swimmer Maana gets Olympics confirmation

New Delhi: Indian woman swimmer Maana Patel’s participation in the Tokyo Olympics has been confirmed through ‘Universality quota’, the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) said. Maana will take part in the 100m backstroke at the Tokyo Games and is the third Indian swimmer to have qualified after both Srihari Nataraj and Sajan Prakash achieved Olympics qualification timing ‘A’ level. pti