Karimnagar: Inspired by children, parents learn archery and win medals

It was six years ago that they got their children Vandana, a Class 8 student and and Manikeshwar, a Class 7 student, enrolled in a archery coaching course

Karimnagar: Usually, it is children who get inspired by what their parents do. However, TSRTC employee Kunta Kishan and his wife Dontha Rajeshwari have a different story to tell.

Kishan, a mechanic with the Karimnagar RTC zonal workshop and Rajeshwari, a revenue inspector in Velgatoor mandal of Jagtial district, are now aiming high and letting arrows fly after getting inspired by their children to take up archery.

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It was six years ago that they got their children Vandana, a Class 8 student and and Manikeshwar, a Class 7 student, enrolled in a archery coaching course. Every day, they used to take the children to the Police Training Centre for coaching and pick them up after the training session.

Over a period of time, the couple too got attracted towards the game and started practising archery in 2018. Age was never a deterrent, and within a short period, the two managed to excel in the game. Not stopping with that, the husband and wife duo have picked a few medals in State and National level competitions as well.

Now, Kishan and Rajeshwari are gearing up to go international and participate in the Asia Pacific Archery Competitions scheduled to be held in South Korea from May 12 to 28. Both had competed in the 4th National Master Games held in May last year in Thiruvananthapuram. While Kishan secured the second place, Rajeshwari won the third spot.

The couple also won gold medals in the 5th Telangana State Championship 2022-23 held on November 13 in Hyderabad. Kishan got the gold medal in the men’s singles category and bronze medal in the Mixed round, while Rajeshwari secured gold in the women’s category.

Rajeshwari and Kishan stood in second and third place respectively in 5th All India Master Games Championship-2023 held on February 3 in Hyderabad as well.

Impressed by his talent, RTC officials have given permission to Kishan to attend duties one hour late. Corporation officials are also contemplating arranging flight tickets for Kishan and Rajeshwari for their South Korea visit. TSRTC Chairman Bajireddy Goverdhan also appreciated Kishan and Rajeshwari for excelling in archery.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Kishan said they had never dreamt of getting into archery. They could master the art quite soon since they were practising from 6 am to 9 am and 5 pm to 7 pm every day apart from for longer durations on holidays. The dream is for each of them four to score a perfect 10, Kishan said.