The athlete, who turned 23 today, tested positive for banned stimulant sibutramine in post-competition testing following her victory in the nanquan and nandao all-round event on the opening day of competition here.

But the Malaysian team strongly criticised the decision, claiming there were problems with the handling of the sample, with the Southeast Asian nation's Minister of Sport, Khairy Jamaluddin, among those voicing his opposition to the decision.

An appeal was swiftly launched to the ad-hoc Division of the CAS, based here, with the Malaysian team refusing to return the medal until the process was completed.

In a statement released this afternoon, CAS revealed a hearing was held this morning before a three-person Panel, in the presence of Datuk Danyal Balagopal, Malaysia's Chef de Mission, representing the athlete, and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) representatives.

They "dismissed the application of the athlete and confirmed the OCA decision to disqualify Tai from the Games", with the full grounds of the verdict to be published tomorrow.

It added: "As a consequence, the medals in the women's wushu nanquan and nandao competition will be re-allocated by [the] OCA."

It means Indonesia's Juwita Nisa Wasni will be promoted from silver to gold, while third-placed Wei Hong of China will take silver, with Ivana Ardelian Irmanto, also of Indonesia, upgraded from fourth to the bronze medal position.

The gold medal will now be handed to Indonesia's initial silver medalist, Juwita Niza Wasni ©AFP/Getty Images




Balagopal admitted they were disappointed with the decision, but "will only make a more detailed comment once the CAS give us the reasons for the rejection".

Tai Cheau Xuen has continued to plead her innocence, her coach Yoong Thong Foong has revealed, with various figures from the Malaysian wushu community also backing her. 

Her case marked the third time an athlete was implicated in a doping scandal during these Games, but the first involving a medallist, following Tajikistan footballer Khurshed Beknazarov and Cambodian soft tennis player Yi Sophany.

Both failed for banned stimulants, with Sophany also testing positive for sibutramine, a substance often found in diet and slimming pills that was withdrawn from the markets after links were found with cardiovascular problems.

Since Tai's failed test was revealed on Tuesday (September 30), two further cases have also emerged, to take the total number of failures here to five.

Syrian karate competitor Nour Aldin Al-Kurdi, a silver medallist in the men's 70 kilogram class at the Asian Junior Championships in Malaysia last month, failed for clenbuterol in pre-competition testing ahead of the competition beginning today.

Iraqi weightlifter Mohammed Jasim Abbood Al Aifuri meanwhile, seventh in the men's heavyweight competition last Friday (September 26), failed for anabolic steroids.

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