She’s aiming high
Starting with an archery summer camp Purvasha makes it big at the Asian Games
By : b. tharun kumar
Update: 2014-10-04 23:28 GMT
Five years ago, Purvasha Sudhir Shinde was a normal school-going girl in Amaravati, Maharashtra. Today, she is one of the top women archers in India and the youngest to have achieved top national rankings. She was also the second best performer in the Indian women’s archery team that won a bronze medal in the 2014 Asian Games recently.
Purvasha, 16, daughter of Sudhir Shinde and Veena Shinde, was born and raised in Maharashtra. Sudhir, a businessman, recognised his daughter’s talent in archery and took a brave step to move her all the way to Vijayawada to train under late Indian coach Cherukuri Lenin. This made Vijayawada her second home. Since then she started to win medals in tournaments like mini-nationals and rose to the No. 1 position in the sub-junior category.
Purvasha’s master Lenin died in an accident a few months after she joined his academy but she continued to win medals and fame for herself as well as the master.“I got to know about archery when I visited a training academy in front of my house in Amaravati. I joined there for a summer camp and got interested in it. My father who has always encouraged me, brought me to Vijayawada when I was in Class VIII,” says Purvasha, who came back to Vijayawada on Saturday after her victory at the Asian Games.
“Since then I started thorough practice and spent at least 10 hours practising archery, with the rest of my time devoted to my studies,” says the archer who is at present studying Intermediate at Satavahana College in Vijayawada.
Apart from regular training, Purvasha has daily sessions of meditation to improve her concentration levels. Purvasha also qualified for an individual event in the Asian Games after her performance in team events, however, she lost in the semi-finals. “World Championship is my ultimate goal and I am getting ready for it,” says a confident Purvasha.