‘I will be back’ says Karatancheva

SOFIA – Bulgarian tennis player Sesil Karatancheva, suspended for two years after testing positive for steroids during last year’s French Open, vowed she would “be back in two years’ time to prove” the penalty against her was unfair.

“I will keep training and be back in two years’ time to prove I was unfairly penalised,” she told the daily “24 tchassa” Thursday. “It’s disgusting…I am very angry.I didn’t expect such a harsh penalty because I still think I did nothing wrong, nothing to be ashamed of.”For me this decision is wrong and incompetent,” she said.The 16-year old Karatancheva, ranked 41 on the WTA list, tested positive for the performance-enhancing steroid nandrolone twice – on May 31, when she lost in the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros in Paris, and on July 4 in Tokyo.She blamed the positive tests on a pregnancy she was unaware of until she suffered a miscarriage.Karatancheva has been suspended since January 1 and has three weeks to appeal the decision.The player will lose all points on the WTA rankings and over 239,000 dollars (198,000 euros) earned at Roland-Garros and tournaments since then.Karatancheva is expected to comment on the International Tennis Federation (ITP) decision at a press conference in Sofia yesterday afternoon.- Nampa-AFP”It’s disgusting…I am very angry.I didn’t expect such a harsh penalty because I still think I did nothing wrong, nothing to be ashamed of.”For me this decision is wrong and incompetent,” she said.The 16-year old Karatancheva, ranked 41 on the WTA list, tested positive for the performance-enhancing steroid nandrolone twice – on May 31, when she lost in the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros in Paris, and on July 4 in Tokyo.She blamed the positive tests on a pregnancy she was unaware of until she suffered a miscarriage.Karatancheva has been suspended since January 1 and has three weeks to appeal the decision.The player will lose all points on the WTA rankings and over 239,000 dollars (198,000 euros) earned at Roland-Garros and tournaments since then.Karatancheva is expected to comment on the International Tennis Federation (ITP) decision at a press conference in Sofia yesterday afternoon.- Nampa-AFP