Doping authorities to analyze “B Sample” on November 4th or 5th

Malaysian daily The Star reported today that the B sample from one of the top Malaysian shuttler whose A sample earlier tested positive for a banned substance will be opened and analysed in Oslo, Norway, on November 4th or 5th, in the presence of the athlete.  The Star had earlier reported that world #1 Lee Chong Wei had been ‘implicated’ as the player concerned, but has since insisted that no official confirmation has been issued on the player’s identity.

Analysis of the A sample saw traces of a banned substance dexamethasone, which “is not a performance-enhancing drug but a type of steroid medication with anti-inflammatory effects that is usually used to aid an athlete’s rehabilitation,” explains the Star.

A lot of athletes in the French Open, currently underway in Paris this week, have voiced their wish to wait for the B sample to be tested before they will comment on the issue, but most were in shock after the news broke last week-end.

According to some statistics, the chances of getting a negative test after a positive A sample are very low, but The Star also reminded its readers of the case of Sairul Ayob Amar, a former national player who tested positive for the same substance in 2006. “The lab was at a university in Belgium. I was so nervous. The doctor there told me that it was almost 99.9% impossible for the B sample to be negative. They were very surprised when it turned out to be negative,” said Sairul to the Star.