Peddapalli girl excels in Archery

Recently, she won a gold medal in the 37th Senior National Games held in Goa.

Peddapalli: Thaniparthi Chikitha, who hails from a poor background, has participated in state, national and international level competitions and won medals.

Recently, she won a gold medal in the 37th Senior National Games held in Goa. She also won a silver medal in the junior category in the national event held in Ayodhya from November 25 to December 3 and team bronze medal in sub-junior level event held in Bharatpur of Rajasthan on November 18 and 19.

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Chikitha, who participated in Asia Cup competitions held in Uzbekistan in the month of April, 2023, is preparing for the World Cup trials scheduled to be held from January 10 to 19 in Calcutta. A resident of Sultanpur of Eligedu mandal, Chikitha started archery practice when she was in Class VIII in 2018 with the encouragement of her father Srinivasa Rao, a farmer by profession.

She got the attention of the archery fraternity by securing first place in the School Games Federation competition held in NTPC, Ramagundam. She also got the silver medal in personal category and bronze medal in mixed in under-17 sub-junior National Archery competitions held in Amaravathi, Maharashtra in 2021.

She also showcased a good performance in Khelo India Youth Games held in Gujarat and Haryana in 2021 as well as Madhya Pradesh in 2022. Speaking to Telangana Today, Chikitha said that it was a game to practice with concentration. So, the encouragement of parents as well as the government was more important. Winning a gold medal in the international events was her aim, she said.

Chikitha, who studied intermediate in TS Model School, Garrepalli, is the daughter of Srinivasa Rao and Srilatha. The couple also has a son Jashwanth, who is also practising archery.

Passionate in sports, Srinivasa Rao joined Chikitha in Archery coaching in Karimnagar police training center in 2019 and used to take her to CPTC every day morning by traveling 23 kilometres from his native village. After completion of coaching, he used to drop her in school in Nagnoor.