Buffalo racer Srinivas Gowda to attend trials at Bengaluru SAI on Monday

India Today

Srinivas Gowda, who became the fastest Kambala racer earlier this month, has been invited to the SAI center in Bengaluru for an assessment by top coaches on Monday.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Srinivas Gowda invited by SAI for ’assessment’ on Monday in Bengaluru

• We have reached out to Srinivas and booked his ticket: SAI

• Srinivas Gowda shot to fame after completing a 142m-Kambala race in 13.42s

New Delhi, 15 Feb: Hours after Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports promised support to record-breaking Kambala racer, Srinivas Gowda, arrangements have been made to facilitate his training and assessment at the Sports Authority of India center in Bengaluru.

 

Sports Authority of India took to Twitter to reveal train tickets for Srinivas Gowda have been booked and he will be assessed by SAI coaches in Bengaluru on Monday.

 

Srinivas Gowda, a 28-year-old Kambala jockey from Karnataka, has become an overnight sensation after clips of his record-setting race went viral earlier this month.

 

 

"We have reached out to #SrinivasaGowda and booked his train ticket. He will be in SAI’s Bangalore center on Monday where our coaches will assess him. We hope to identify and nurture more talents with inputs from all sports enthusiasts," DG SAI wrote on Twitter.

 

Srinivas, who takes up a job as a construction worker when he is not training with his four-legged teammates, broke the record for the fastest Kambala race, a traditional sport from Karnataka where farmers sprint with a pair of buffaloes on slush tracks.

 

Srinivas reportedly completed the 142m race in just 13.42s, which prompted comparisons, albeit unfair, to sprint great and decorated Olympian Usain Bolt.

 

Several social media users, including some prominent names, inferred Srinivas would have completed a 100m race in 9.55s, which is 0.03s faster than Usain Bolt’s 100m world record.

 

Sports minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday reacted to the buzz, saying he would arrange for Srinivas’s trials by top SAI coaches.

 

"I will call Srinivasa Gowda for trials by top SAI Coaches. There’s a lack of knowledge in masses abt standards of the Olympics, especially in athletics where ultimate human strength and endurance are surpassed. I’ll ensure that no talent in India is left out untested," Kiren Rijiju was quoted as saying by ANI news agency.

 

This is not the first time Kiren Rijiju has reacted to social media buzz in the name of hunting new talents.

 

In 2019, the sports ministry arranged for a trial for a Madhya Pradesh farmer who, in a viral video, completed a 100m lap in just 11s on barefoot. A trial race was arranged for Rameshwar Gurjar but the youngster failed to live up to expectations.

 

"Rameshwar Gurjar’s trial run was conducted at T T Nagar Stadium by senior coaches of SAI and State Govt. Here, Rameshwar is seen running at extreme left. He is exhausted due to the glare of publicity so he couldn’t perform well. Will give proper time and training to him," Rijiju had tweeted.