Archive · 24 Sep 2026
Parikshit Somani Handed Four-Year Ban After Trimetazidine Test
Parikshit Somani is an Indian tennis player.
A test found the banned substance trimetazidine in his sample.
The sample was collected during an ATP Challenger event in Astana, Kazakhstan, on July 31, 2025.
Somani said the substance came from food prepared by a family member.
He believed the food may have been contaminated by the family member’s medicine.
Experts and an independent tribunal examined this explanation.
The tribunal decided that the explanation was not convincing and that Somani had not shown where the substance came from.
He was therefore suspended from tennis for four years, with the suspension ending on September 22, 2029.
Indian tennis player Parikshit Somani received a four-year suspension under tennis anti-doping rules.
He tested positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine after providing a sample on July 31, 2025.
The positive test occurred during an ATP Challenger event in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Somani said contaminated food prepared by a family member caused the positive result.
An independent tribunal rejected that explanation as scientifically implausible, highly speculative, and unconvincing.
- Who
- Indian tennis player Parikshit Somani and the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
- What
- Somani was given a four-year suspension after testing positive for trimetazidine.
- When
- The sample was collected on July 31, 2025; Somani was provisionally suspended from September 23, 2025, and the tribunal hearing took place on August 19, 2026.
- Where
- The positive test occurred during an ATP Challenger event in Astana, Kazakhstan.
- Why
- The tribunal found that Somani had not established the source of the prohibited substance and rejected his food-contamination explanation.
Somani's Defense
Tribunal's Finding
Source of the substance
Somani's Defense
Somani said food prepared by a family member may have been contaminated by the family member's medicine during preparation.
Tribunal's Finding
The tribunal found the food-contamination theories scientifically implausible, highly speculative, and unconvincing.
Investigation and evidence
Somani's Defense
Somani used the ITIA player support programme and presented expert scientific opinions in support of his explanation.
Tribunal's Finding
Products examined during the investigation tested negative for trimetazidine, and the tribunal concluded that Somani had not established the substance's source.
Mitigating circumstances
Somani's Defense
Somani's explanation attributed the positive test to inadvertent contamination rather than an established source of doping.
Tribunal's Finding
Because the source was not established, the tribunal determined that no mitigating circumstances applied and imposed a four-year suspension.
- Player
- Parikshit Somani, a 26-year-old Indian tennis player
- Prohibited substance
- Trimetazidine
- Sample date
- July 31, 2025
- Event
- An ATP Challenger tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan
- Penalty
- Four-year suspension
- Suspension end date
- September 22, 2029, with provisional suspension time credited
- Career-high ranking
- No. 256 in doubles
- Tribunal finding
- The food-contamination theories were deemed scientifically implausible, highly speculative, and unconvincing
