One More Indian Shuttler Caught in Doping Net After NADA Suspended Krishna Last Year - Report

Another Indian shuttler is reportedly caught in the doping net after the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) suspended a men's doubles player for testing positive for a banned substance last year.

According to a report in The Tribune, women's doubles player Swetaparna Panda is the latest Indian shuttler in the dock and faces suspension after her samples showed presence of banned substance.

The 19-year-old Swetaparna, who featured in last week's India Open 2025, was tested during the Odisha Masters last year in December 2024, and her samples showed presence of a banned substance.

Swetaparna, one of the Panda sisters, who plays with Rutaparna in the doubles circuit has reportedly tested positive for terbutaline, a beta2-agonist which helps in muscle strength, power and endurance.

Last year, in a rarest of cases in Badminton, doubles player Krishna Prasad Garaga, a member of the Indian team that won gold in 2022 Thomas Cup, had tested positive for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG).

Garaga was suspended for four years dating from July 31, 2024 after his samples during an out of competition test in Hyderabad in February, showed the presence of HCG and luteinizing hormone (LH), both prohibited for male athletes as they stimulate testosterone production.

When Garaga was issued the suspension, several other Indian athletes including wrestler Bajrang Punia and shot-putter Kiran Baliyan were also caught in the doping net. Garaga, who was doing well alongside Sai Pratheek in men's doubles, admits it's a very rare case in badminton.

"We were doing well as a doubles pair. We had beaten Satwik and Chirag and all of a sudden I get a letter from the NADA about my samples. No one in badminton has any idea about this so I continued playing," Garaga was quoted as saying by The Tribune.

"It is such a rare case. I don't know many cases like mine in India. It is even rare in badminton so I kept playing and all of a sudden I get told that I have been suspended. It was confusing. I have appealed this suspension and am waiting to hear from the appeal panel."