Tokyo gold medallist para shuttler Pramod Bhagat has been suspended for a period of 18 months due to whereabout failure and will miss the Paris Paralympic Games.
The gold medallist for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020, Pramod Bhagat, of India, has been suspended for eighteen months for violating anti-doping rules, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Pramod will not compete in the Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024 because of the suspension.
“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,” the announcement stated.
“SL3 athlete Bhagat filed an appeal with the CAS Appeals Division against this ruling. The CAS Anti-Doping Division’s ruling from March 1, 2024, was upheld by the CAS Appeals Division on July 29, 2024, the statement said.
In the men’s singles SL3 event at the Tokyo Paralympics, Bhagat defeated Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell to win a gold medal.
In the Tokyo Paralympics final, the 35-year-old Bhagat overcame a steep handicap to defeat his bitter opponent 14-21, 21-15, 21-15 in an exhausting match that lasted for over an hour and forty minutes.
In the process, Bhagat—who had previously won the same medal three times in 2015, 2019 and 2022—won his fourth world championship in singles. In addition, he won a gold medal in men’s doubles during the 2013 world championships. However, he will be unable to maintain his titles this time.
It’s quite regrettable and depressing. Indian para-badminton head coach Gaurav Khanna said PTI, “He was a sure shot medal for India at the Paralympics but he is a fighter and I am sure he will come back stronger.”
Bhagat is the current global No. 3 in his category and a two-time gold medallist at the Asian Games. At the age of five, he had polio, which left him disabled in his left leg.
