TAKING AIM: Mandava Rishita. — PHOTO: CH.VIJAYA BHASKAR

VIJAYAWADA : Administrators of the archery association in Krishna District are on cloud nine, as Penamaluru-based Mandava Rishita returned home from the Asian Junior Grand Prix (I) championship held at Bangkok with two gold medals.

Rishita, a senior Intermediate student at Sri Chaitanya educational institution, shot into fame last year when she won a bronze in the Junior World Cup in Mexico.

Speaking to the media late on Wednesday night, Rishita said: "The humiliation meted out to my coach Ch. Lenin during the felicitation of Koneru Humpy and others made me more resolute to prove the critics wrong. I dedicate these medals to Mr. Lenin, with a promise that I will work hard to bring laurels to the country and to the Volga Archery Academy."

Rishita, along with her teammates, won two team gold medals in the 70+70 segment and Olympic round event.

But the coming months would still prove to be crucial for Rishita, as she would be taking part in a selection meet at Hyderabad in April to qualify for the Senior Asian Grand Prix II at Singapore. Later, she would be fighting for a place in the Indian team for the Junior Asian Archery Championship in Chinese Taipei in May.

"Along with Rishita, other Krishna district archers - Naga Swetha, P. Akshara and Ch. Anusha will be taking part in the selection tournaments," said Krishna District Archery Association president Ch. Satyanarayana.

Meanwhile, national compound champion Ch. Lenin, who faced stiff competition in the Olympic compound event in Bangkok, lost in the quarterfinal in a tiebreaker against Iran's Razak. "Lenin and Razak scored 112 out of 120 and in the tie-breaker Razak defeated Lenin by one point," Mr. Satyanarayana revealed.

Lenin is representing Andhra Pradesh in the National Games at Guwahati and would be taking part in the selection tournament in Hyderabad to gain a slot in the Indian team for the world circuit archery meet to be held in South Korea.

Krishna District Archery Association secretary K.N.V. Prasad, vice-presidents Yalamanchalli Vasantha, S. Adinarayana and district sports development officer B. Sudhakar congratulated Rishita for her feat .

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