He is the son of a bus conductor. But in the land with a history of wandering tribes led by Genghis Khan, 18-year-old Yarra Charan Reddy, stayed on course to carve out a special place for himself in the world of archery winning team gold, a silver and a bronze in the Asian Grand Prix championship in Mongolia.
Eighteen-year-old Charan, hailing from Kadapa district, surprised critics with a stand-out performance with a high-quality display of precision, temperament and tremendous focus, as his coach Pallela Ravi Shankar reminds, to make his maiden international event a truly memorable one.
A product of the Andhra Pradesh Sports School in Hakimpet near here, this archer owes a lot to his parents Y. Venkat Reddy, a bus conductor in the APSRTC and mother Jyothi for their firm belief in the young boy’s passion for sports when they put him in the school.
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“After I joined the Sports School in 2007 and saw some of the archers train, I developed immediate interest and approached Ravi sir (coach)”, recalls the young sensation, who along with A. Ravali were the only two from the State to take part in the meet.
Charan won the team gold along with Ravi Sharma of Rajasthan and Ramakant Sharma of Manipur with a score of 229\240. He also won silver in the mixed team event and a bronze in the Olympic Round individual category too.
“Ï never expected the gold. I was only hoping to do well in my maiden event,” he says.
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Charan is now gunning for bigger glory – a medal in the next Asian Games and the Junior World Cup. “It’s not impossible given his commitment, focus and the skills,” says the proud coach, who himself works on a consolidated payment basis for SAAP.