Mangaluru: With Kambala jockeys Srinivas Gowda and Nishanth Shetty hitting headlines and being compared to Usain Bolt, the people of Dakshina Kannada are now remembering ‘son of soil’ Anand Shetty, the sprinter who brought home the Gold nine times.
As Gowda’s sprint is being compared to Bolt, the Sports Authority of India and Minister for Sports Kiren Rijiju both invited Gowda for a trial. Many, including Gowda, said that Kambala is different from track events. While Gowda himself decided to focus only on Kambala and not become a part of track events, many opined that it was not advisable to have a Kambala jockey train to become a track athlete.
However, all these arguments fall flat if one sees the life and times of Anand Shetty, a Kambala jockey, who was also an extra-ordinary Kabaddi player.
Anand Shetty lost his life in 2013 in a tragic road mishap, but he has left behind his glorious memories and achievements for the newer generations to get inspired.
Hailing from Mani in Bantwal, Shetty made his first senior appearance at the international level in the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi. In the South Asian Games, he won gold medals in the 200 metres event in Kathmandu in 1984 and in the 100 metres event in Calcutta in 1987.
He won gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres seniors’ national events in 1982 in Delhi and went on to retain the titles in Jamshedpur in 1983. In total, he held the record nine times till 1989.
Dubbed the ‘Flying Bunt’, it is a known fact that though Shetty became a household name because of his accomplishments in track events, Kambala played a major role in his growth.
Shetty’s close friends say that though he wanted to be part of Kambala even after he became a national-level sprinter, his trainer had suggested staying away from mushy-land races. They feared mishaps, accidents and injuries which could have hampered Shetty’s performance at the national level. Hence, despite yearning to go back to his roots, Shetty could not do so.
Unfortunately, Shetty is not around to witness the glory that Srinivas Gowda and Nishant Shetty have earned due to their Kambala sprints. At age 52, Shetty succumbed to severe injuries he suffered in the accident.
