Five-year-old archer Cherukuri Dolly Shivani, who hails from Vijayawada, stunned audiences with her ability and entered the India Book of Records and the Asia Book of Records on Sunday. She began practising the sport when she was barely three.
Shivani created the first record by firing 103 arrows from a distance of 10 metres in just 11 minutes and 19 seconds with a compounding bow and Indian arrows. She attempted her second feat by releasing 36 arrows from a distance of 20 metres in a record time of 5 minutes and 8 seconds, and scored 290 points out of 360.
Shivani's brother Cherukuri Lenin, an international archer and coach was killed in a road accident soon after the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. Shattered by the incident, Cherukuri Satyanarayana and his wife Krishna decided to opt for surrogacy, and Shivani was born in 2012.
As her father Satyanarayana, also the Chairman of the Volga Archery Academy wished, "she is carrying forward her brother's and forefathers legacy, whose forefathers were archers during the Kakatiya dynasty."
"Today, we are very proud to see our kid making such grand advancements. We hope that by the grace of God, she will scale greater heights,” he told TNM.
He added ''she is now concentrating on the upcoming Cherukuri Lenin-Volga Memorial Tournament in the under-9 and under-14 categories of the archery competition, which is scheduled to take place in the last week of October."
In the upcoming tournaments, Shivani will be representing Andhra Pradesh.
"She is now completely firm and professional, and listens to each and every suggestion, either from me or from her coach Chandrasekar, with full concentration," he added.
"Our ultimate dream is that Shivani should represent the country in the 2024 Olympics and make our country proud," he said.
"She is a very enthusiastic and sharp kid, and is a quick learner. Initially, we started training her with light levels but soon she started learning from the seniors," her coach Chandrasekar L said.
“We are much confident about her, and hope she will do well in upcoming events" he added.