Doping ban lifted off former Asian Games medalist boxer Sumit Sangwan

Former Asian Games silver medalist boxer, Sumit Sangwan was banned in 2019 after being tested positive of a banned substance by National Anti Doping Agency (NADA).

On February 2, the ban was lifted after it was established that the use of Acetozolamide was indeed unintentional and he had taken the tablet due to an eye infection. The boxer would have been eligible to qualify for Olympics given any other circumstance but unfortunately for him he cannot go into the qualifiers now.

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Sangwan, though has all the legal rights to qualify and participate in the Olympics later this year but since the qualification is scheduled just 24 hours from the lift of the ban, it is practically impossible for him to think of Tokyo 2020.

https://twitter.com/Nitin_sachin/status/1234460662035894272

Sangwan’s samples were collected in October during the Elite Men Boxing Championships. He was tested positive for Acetazolamide, which is listed as diuretics and masking agents.

In a series of tweets, the NADA confirmed the severity of the ban by stating, “Indian Boxer Sumit Sangwan had tested positive for the presence of Acetazolamide substance which comes under the category of ‘Diuretics and Masking’ agents. His sample was collected on 10th October 2019 while he was participating in the Elite Men Boxing Championship, 2019.”

Sangwan was expected to turn out for India in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after being named in the Olympic Qualifiers trials that will be held on December 29 and 30 in Karnataka. He will also have to forfeit his bronze medal that he won in the Olympic test event last October. The ban also effectively means that Sangwan’s Olympic 2020 dreams are all but over.