Srinivas Gowda's record broken by another Kambala racer by .03 seconds!

Nishanth Shetty reportedly broke the record in the Surya Chandra Kambala

kambala-1-bhanu Representational Image | Bhanu Prakash Chandra

The clamour around Srinivas Gowda's feat of running 100 metres in 9.55 seconds is yet to die down, but another rising Kambala racer is poised to take the spotlight. Nishanth Shetty touched the 100-meter mark, taking just .03 seconds to beat the record set by Gowda.

Nishanth reportedly broke the record in the Surya Chandra Kambala in Venur as he rode Bolle-Kaje of Erimaru Gopalakrishna Bhat in the Hagga Hiriya category, covering the 143-meter slush track in 13.61 seconds. Kambala organisers said that by their calculation, it took Nishanth only 9.52 seconds to run the 100-meter mark.

Nishanth expressed happiness over his achievement and told reporters that it was his best performance till date.

Srinivas Gowda covered 145 metres in 13.62 seconds at the Kambala in Aikala village, breaking a 30-year-old record. He was touted as India's Usain Bolt, who holds the fastest 100 metres record on track, and was even offered a trial by the Sports Authority of India, with Sports Minister Kiren Rijeju taking a special interest in his case. However, Gowda turned down the offer, citing that Kambala racing is not the same as track events. It is likely that he might still give a trial after the Kambala season is over in March.

Gowda has won 29 prizes in the 12 Kambalas he has participated so far in the season.

The New Indian Express reported that two other buffalo racers―Akkeri Suresh Shetty and Irvathuru Anand―also came close to the record set by Srinivas Gowda, having covered the 100 meter distance in 9.57 seconds.

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