India hockey goalkeeper Akash Chikte was a relieved man yesterday after his two-year doping sentence was reduced to 13 months as the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) concluded that he had consumed the banned substance (Norandrosterone) unintentionally.

Chikte, 26, was suspended by NADA's Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) on March last year. However, he claimed the substance was prescribed to him by a Pune doctor to treat his injured toe. Yesterday, a NADA statement said: "We hereby modify the order of the ADDP and the ineligibility of 4 years under Article 10.2.1 from the date of the appellants provisional suspension, i.e. 27-03-2018, is modified to a period of 13 months."