The Hindu
VIJAYAWADA, March 12, 2015
Updated: March 12, 2015 15:33 IST
- Photo: V. Raju
Dolly Shivani Cherukuri. Photo: V. Raju
This toddler is already a promising archer from the stable of Volga Archery Academy, and is all set to enter the India Book of Records.
Catch them young is a clichéd adage but nurturing a toddler who is just
35 months old is a jaw-dropping experience for the sports fraternity.
Meet Dolly Shivani Cherukuri, the kid sister of late Indian coach and
international archer Ch. Lenin who died in a road accident soon after
the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, who is already a promising archer
from the stable of Volga Archery Academy.
Shivani is all set enter the India Book of Records, when she gears up to
register 200 points in the five-meter and seven–metre distances on
March 24. “This will be a world record attempt as no one has achieved
this feat. She will be firing 72 arrows in 24 attempts with two minutes
duration for three arrows for both distances. She is already scoring
more than 400 points during practice sessions,” says the tiny tot’s
mentor Chandrasekhar Laguri, a recurve coach from Jharkhand.
Shattered by his son’s death in 2010 and daughter’s untimely demise in
2004, Volga Archery Academy chairman Cherukuri Satyanarayana wanted
someone from his family to carry on the legacy of archery from
Vijayawada, which is historically known for Arjuna receiving the ‘
Pashupatastra’ (deadly weapon) from Lord Shiva at Indrakeeladri, the
present abode of Goddess Kanakadurga.
Satyanarayana and his wife Krishna Kumari, moved by the honour bestowed
on their late son Lenin by the 49th FITA World Conference at Turin
(Italy) decided to adopt surrogacy. “When we came to know that the baby
was on her way we decided to mould her as an archer. The preparation was
on while she was in the womb itself,” says Satyanarayana.
