Nine-year-old blends martial arts with memory to attempt world record

CHENNAI: Morning walkers at Semmozhi Park on Thursday were in for a surprise. Nine-year-old S. Sai Sharath wowed the crowd by identifying the flags of 195 countries using flashcards, all while performing continuous silambam stick rotations, completing the feat in just 2 minutes and 47 seconds. This unique attempt, which combines memory with martial arts, is being officially documented for submission to Elite World Records. Sharath has already had the achievement recognised by Kalam's World Records and the India Book of Records on May 15. “Later this year, they will be honouring me - that’s what my mom said,” he says with a bright smile.

A student of Sri Chaitanya Techno School in Mandaveli, the young boy is eagerly awaiting the reopening of school. “I can't wait to share the news with my friends and teachers,” he tells DT Next, excitedly.

A state and district-level Silambam player, Sharath has been training in the traditional martial art since the age of seven. “I’ve always been curious about different countries and the stories behind their flags. That’s how I became interested in learning to identify them,” he shares.

The idea for the record attempt came just a few days ago when Sharath told his mother, Gayathri, about his goal. “At first, I was surprised. We searched online and saw that many people had already attempted fast flag identification. So we thought, why not combine it with Silambam? We took it as a challenge,” says Gayathri.

With support from his Silambam master, who was equally excited about the idea, Sharath began rigorous daily practice. “He worked so hard for this, and we’re all proud of him,” the mother adds. Known for his sharp observation skills, Sharath now hopes his video submission will gain recognition from both the Limca Book of Records and the Guinness World Records.