Archers of Volga Archery Academy at Vijayawada are back in news. This time it is Purvasha Shinde, a 15-year-old Class X student of Vishwa Bharthi High School, who emerged as the No.1 sub junior compound archer in the country by winning the National Archery Ranking Tournament (NRAT) at New Delhi on Thursday.
This diminutive girl who hails from Amaravati (Maharashtra) defeated Saskhi Vedan of Uttar Pradesh in the shoot out in the final. Both hauled 135 points each and in the shoot-out Purvasha clinched the top slot by a narrow 9-8 margin.
Along with Purvasha, two other Volga archers -- Geethika Lakshmi and Jyostna -- finished fourth and sixth in the medals tally. Geethika missed the podium finish narrowly by losing to Parvati Nair in the tie-breaker while the 12-year-old Jyosthna, the youngest archer in the country, surprised many by occupying sixth place. “The sub junior category is for archers below 18 years of age. But Jyostna, who is just 12, came out with astonishing scores,” says Cherukuri Satyanarayana, chairman of the academy.
Purvasha joined Volga Archery Academy in 2010 and mastered the nuances from coach J. Rama Rao, a senior Indian Railways archer and began figuring in the district and State meets.
“She stays in the academy and pursues both education and archery. She won a good number of medals in the sub junior segment and began to hog the limelight at the national-level by winning the sub junior title in 2013,” Mr. Satyanarayana added.
Purvasha made her maiden trip abroad by visiting Singapore to take part in an invitation tournament and won a gold medal in the under-16 segment. Purvasha is among the top eight archers of the country in the senior segment and she is tipped to follow the exploits of her senior counterpart from city, Vennam Jyothi Surekha, who is presently the No. 1 compound archer in the country.
