Pall of gloom descends Lenin`s archery academy

Vijayawada: A pall of gloom has descended upon the Volga Archery Academy at Vijaylaxmipuram after the untimely death of its coach Lenin Cherukuri in a road accident on Sunday. Just a few days ago, the archers of the Volga Archery Academy were flying high especially after two of their archers -- Ritul Chatterjee and Jignas Chittibomma (Services) – made the country proud bagging a historical silver medal in the team event of the Commonwealth Games. "He was in the headlines everywhere today and tomorrow everybody will see his death news. It`s so sad for us," Jignas` father Rajasekhar told reporters. Set up by Lenin`s father Satyanarayana, who is also the Andhra Pradesh Archery Association organising secretary, Volga Training Institute has so far produced 15 international archers, winning more than 50 medals in FITA tournaments held in Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Croatia, Myanmar, USA and India. The academy, named after Lenin`s sister Volga, who also ironically died in a road mishap six years ago, got a boost after the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation alloted an exclusive playfield at Vijayalaksmi Colony in Gunadala. Olympian Indian archery coach Limba Ram, International archers Shivnath Nagasia, Rohit Das and former Mexican national coach and California-based Robin hood Archery Academy chairman Natty Jaime have also come here to train the archers. Thanks to the effort of the father-son duo, Krishna district has become a breeding ground for the compound archers in Andhra and trains about 80 upcoming archers. PTI