Archers of city-based Volga Archery Academy are in a buoyant mood as its archer K. Venkatadri, a Class X student of St Johns’ (E.M.) High School (Gunadala) had returned from Dhaka with three silver medals thus enhancing the pride of the country and the city in the 3rd South Asian archery championship that concluded Wednesday night.

The teenager, who was part of the Indian senior team, figured in three finals – individual Olympic round, mixed, and team championships and finished second in all three events. “He went down to fellow-Indian Harsha Prasher 141-144 in the individual Olympic round final and in the mixed event, partnering Isha Pawar, he lost to Bangladesh pair 148-153. In the closely-fought team championship, Venkatadri along with Harsha Prasher, Mayank Rawat bowed out to Bangladesh trio in a narrow margin of 125-126,” said Andhra Pradesh Archery Association secretary Cherukuri Satyanarayana.

“This is his second international achievement after the silver medal exploits at Singapore in Asian Youth archery championship in 2014. Presently he is among the top eight junior archers in the country,” he added.

Fourteen-year-old Venkakadri made it to the Indian senior team after he won the gold medal in the Khelo India competitions held recently at Delhi where he defeated Harsha Prasher in the final.

Mr. Satyanarayana said that Venkatadri had all the wherewithal to emerge as a top archer as he had loads of patience and willingness to go the extra mile.

“He is a coach’s delight as he follows the instructions diligently. We, at Volga Archery Academy, are giving all the necessary equipment and other financial support to him,” he said.

Next challenge

The next big challenge to the teenager is at Pune where he will be taking part in the Senior Nationals as part of the Andhra Pradesh senior compound team.

“Venkatadri needs to attend an exposure trip to the U.S.A where he can learn latest tips from the renowned and experienced coaches. In fact former Mexico national coach and California -based archery coach Natty Jamie is willing to come to Vijayawada to train the young archers,” Mr Satyanarayana said.

On behalf of St. John’s Educational Institutions, correspondent T. Suman Thyagaraj gave ₹50,000 for the purchase of archery ancillaries equipments besides cancelling his school tuition fee completely. School President T. Monica Suman and Principal P. Rama Bharathi hailed his stupendous show and wished him more glory in his future contests.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by J R Shridharan / Vijayawada – March 30th, 2018