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Indian shuttler and Paralympic gold medallist, Pramod Bhagat, on Tuesday, August 13 was handed 18-month suspension due to anti-doping regulation violations. The gold medallist from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Bhagat will now miss the upcoming 2024 Paris Paralympics after the Indian athlete was found guilty of three whereabout failures.
The news came just after the conclusion of the Paris Olympics 2024 and ahead of the Paralympics Games, which are set to be played from August 28 till September 8 in the French capital, Paris. “Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat has been suspended for a period of 18 months and will miss the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games,” BWF said in a statement.
“On 1 March 2024, the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) Anti-Doping Division found Bhagat in breach of the BWF anti-doping regulations for committing three whereabouts failures within 12 months. On 29 July 2024, the CAS Appeals Division dismissed the Bhagat’s appeal and confirmed the CAS Anti-Doping Division decision of 1 March 2024, the statement from BWF further read.
It is to be noted that despite appealing, the CAS Appeals Division upheld the decision, later confirming the suspension. While Bhagat’s “period of ineligibility is now in effect”, he is set to miss the upcoming Games.
The 35-year-old Pramod Bhagat, an SL3 athlete had defended his men’s singles SL3 title as he defeated England’s Daniel Bethell in a hard-fought final at the 2024 Para Badminton World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand. He earlier defeated Great Britain’s Bethell at the Tokyo Paralympics in men’s singles SL3 category to clinch gold.
