CHENNAI: In a big embarrassment for the country ahead of the 2026 Asian Games, yet another wrestler failed dope thus reducing the country's participation in the quadrennial event by one. Deepak, who competes in the 67kg of the Greco-Roman wrestling, has now been provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
Deepak's sample was taken during the selection trials organised to pick the national squad for the Asian Games. The sample contained Clomifene.
The trials for the men wrestlers (both freestyle and Greco-Roman) were held at the SAI Regional Centre in Lucknow on May 31. Deepak won the trials in the 67kg to make it to the squad for the Games scheduled to begin in Japan on September 19.
Ironically, Deepak along with other selected GR wrestlers recently returned from Uzbekistan after attending a training-cum-exposure camp for the continental meet. This is the third incident of a selected wrestler testing positive for banned substances. Earlier, Deepanshu (130kg in Greco-Roman) and Mukul Dahiya (86kg in freestyle) returned positive. Like Deepak, Mukul also accompanied selected freestyle wrestlers to Yerevan, Armenia for a preparatory camp.
A total of six wrestlers in each style (women's wrestling, men's freestyle and Greco-Roman) were picked after the selection trials for the Asian Games taking the total strength to 18. The women's trials were held at the IG Stadium in Lucknow on May 30. However, the dope positive cases meant now India can field only 15 competitors with three weight categories (86kg in freestyle, and 67kg and 130kg in Greco-Roman) going unrepresented.
The sample collected from Deepak contains banned substance Clomifene. It is a prescription oral medication primarily used to treat female infertility by stimulating ovulation.
"The sample was taken on May 31 and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) received the notice today (September 9). The same thing happened with Mukul. In that case the federation didn't even receive the notice and got to know about it from sources," a source in the know of the development told this daily.
Earlier, the Indian campaign at the 2026 Commonwealth Games too was hit by doping with a couple of selected judokas testing positive ahead of the commencement of the event in Glasgow. The country's quota in weightlifting too was reduced by one due to Anti Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) by the Indian lifters. One of the selected lifters, Dilbag Singh, who attended the camp in Birmingham for the CWG, had to return home without participation due to it.
