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Ping-pong player blames food in China for his ban

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-09-28 14:53

German table tennis player Dimitrij Ovtcharov said it is quite possible some unclean food he ate in China during the Aug 18 to 22 China Open has led to his temporary match ban after he tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol on Aug 23, Beijing News reported Tuesday.

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Ovtcharov said he loves eating meat and the hotel he stayed in in China provided very good meat dishes, and experts told him there is a kind of meat in China that can cause people to test positive for clenbuterol, Chinese news portal sohu.com reported.

German Table Tennis Association said in a statement on Sept 24 they would conduct drug tests on all the players who attended the China Open to gather as much information as possible, another news portal, qq.com, reported.

Germany's anti-doping commission will take another urine sample from Ovtcharov, and if the test result is the same, he will face a two-year ban on playing in matches and won't have the chance to play at the 2012 London Olympics, qq.com said.