Pune: Siddhant Kamble made Pune proud with his good performance in the World Speed Skating Championship, which was held at Nanjing, China, recently.

Siddhant finished in seventh place in the 1,000 metre race while he completed the elimination race in fifth place. This was the first time that any Indian has finished in top 10.

“He started skating at the age of six, I always wanted to make him a cricketer but his mother once saw an advertisement regarding skating on the notice board of Paranjape Nursery School - Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and after that it was no looking back for my son. We are just happy to support his enthusiasm regarding sports,” said Rahul Kamble, father of Siddhant.
Elimination race is of 15 km where one skater is eliminated after every lap. Siddhant kept his cool and made sure that he finishes the race.

Siddhant is coached by Shreepad Shinde. He had also participated in the Asian Championship in 2016 where he finished in fourth place in the relay event. Nineteen-year-old Siddhant is also planning to visit Belgium for extensive training in skating.