CAS hands 18-month suspension to India's Tokyo gold medallist para shuttler, to miss Paris Paralympic Games

India's star para shuttler Pramod Bhagat will miss the Paris Paralympics 2024 after being found guilty of breaching norms regarding the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) anti-doping regulations. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced that India's Tokyo Paralympics 2020 gold medalist has been suspended for 18 months due to anti-doping regulation violations.
 

“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 their official statement.
 

Pramod missed three whereabouts notices within 12 months and thus The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) found him guilty resulting in reprimanding him.
 

"In 1 March 2024, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Anti-Doping Division found Bhagat in breach of the BWF anti-doping regulations for committing three whereabouts failures within 12 months," BWF said in a statement.
 

"Bhagat, an SL3 athlete, appealed this decision to the CAS Appeals Division.
 

"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. His period of ineligibility is now in effect," the statement added. 

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Bhagat and his team appealed against the judgment but the CAS Appeals Division justified the decision confirming the athlete's suspension. 
 

Bhagat’s missed chance

Bhagat is an SL3 athlete who brought glory to the nation winning a gold medal in the Tokyo Paralympics. He was expected to bring more laurels for the country in this year’s edition. He had a great start to the year by defending his men’s singles SL3 title as he defeated England’s Daniel Bethell in a tough final at Thailand's 2024 Para-Badminton World Championships. 

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Unfortunately, India will miss the services of their gold medal contender in the upcoming Paralympic Games. The SL (Standing Lower)3 class is for athletes with movement moderately affected on one side of the body, both legs or the absence of limbs. 
 

Paris Paralympics will commence on August 28 and will end on September 8. 
 

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