Silvester D’Souza

Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)

Kundapur, Feb 11: Vishwanath Devadiga, a  21-year-old youth has created a new record in running the 100 metres distance of Kambala fields in just 9.15 seconds.

The buffaloes that Vishwanath rode at Kantabare–Boodabare Kambala race at Aikala on February 6 have covered a distance of 100 meters in merely 9.15 seconds. Hitting the new record, Vishwanath of Naikanakatte, Narigude, Kergalu village has made the headlines. The passion for the sport hidden in him surfaced when he broke the record that was in the name of Srinivas Gowda, who is also known as Indian Usain Bolt.

Vishwanath was born to couple Ganesh and Lalita on March 24, 1997. After his SSLC he went to Mumbai looking for a job. As he wanted to study further, he completed his PUC at a night school. He then returned to his home town and indulged in agriculture. The house had buffaloes from where he gained experience of rearing them. He made use of the experience in the Kambala race. Suresh Kadinatar encouraged his interest in Kambala and introduced him to Thenkuthittu Kambala.

He stepped into the Kambala fields for the first time after holding the rope of Jaya-Vijaya buffaloes of Janardhan Devadiga and Harish Devadiga. He later excelled in the buffalo races of big owners. He had managed to build a name for himself on the Kambala fields that spectators always expected him to be the winner.

It is not easy to run with buffaloes used in Kambala. It requires preparations and courage. In the past, Akkeri Suresh Shetty had covered the distance of 100 metres in 9.37 seconds, Srinivas Gowda in 9.55 seconds and Anand in 9.57 seconds.