Indian Tennis Player Somani Receives Four-Year Doping Ban

Indian tennis player Parikshit Somani has been banned for four years after testing positive for trimetazidine from a sample collected at an ATP Challenger event in Astana, Kazakhstan, in July 2025. The 26-year-old, who reached a career-high doubles ranking of No. 256, will remain ineligible until September 2029, with his Astana results and subsequent results through his provisional suspension disqualified. Somani argued that food prepared by a family member had been contaminated by medication, but an independent tribunal rejected the explanation as scientifically implausible, highly speculative and unconvincing. Products he identified as possible contamination sources also tested negative at a WADA-accredited laboratory, and the tribunal found no basis for mitigating the standard sanction. During the ban, Somani is barred from competing in, coaching at or attending events sanctioned by major tennis organizations and national federations.