Hope still flickers for shuttler Sigit in steroid-taking case
Hope still flickers for shuttler Sigit in steroid-taking case
JAKARTA (JP): Sports medical expert Dangsina Moeloek said on
Tuesday there was still hope that Indonesia's badminton world
doubles champion Sigit Budiarto would be cleared of drug taking.
She said there was a chance the dope test on Sigit's second
urine sample would not detect any banned substances.
Dangsina has just returned from Beijing, where she witnessed
the examination of Sigit's "B" sample on behalf of the Badminton
Association of Indonesia at a laboratory sanctioned by the
International Olympic Committee.
"I saw the test procedures meet the IBF (International
Badminton Federation) standards. There is a tendency that a
second test's result confirms that of the first one, although in
a few cases the two tests do not match," she said.
"An athlete can test positive in only the first examination
because it might not have been conducted properly."
Sigit failed a dope test at the Singapore Open he won with
Candra Wijaya in August. The IBF said traces of the banned
anabolic steroid nandrolone were found in his "A" urine sample.
The "B" sample test was conducted on Thursday by Zhang Yinong
and Liu Xin. The laboratory's director, Wu Mou Tian, also
attended.
"I was there to make sure that Sigit's "B" urine sample was
put in a sealed tube and in a good condition. I also witnessed
that the reagent and laboratory equipment was all clean," said
Dangsina, who chaired the doping commission during the 19th
Southeast Asian Games last year.
Dangsina, also a member of the IBF medical commission, said
Sigit declared he had consumed Claritin, an anti-allergy
medicine, but he did not mention this before leaving Indonesia
for the tournament.
Sigit pleaded innocent last week and said he was confused
about where the nandrolone came from. Another sports medical
expert, Hario Tilarso, speculated that the herbal medicine might
have contained the banned substance.
The IBF will announce its verdict after a hearing with Sigit
and Indonesian badminton officials. The date for the hearing has
yet to be set.
Sigit is allowed to lodge an appeal against the decision.
(yan)