by Karen Mehall Phillips - Wednesday, April 1, 2015
What a report to unleash on April Fool’s Day, considering it’s safe to assume many would think it a mere April Fool’s joke! But believe it or not, the OutdoorHub, an online news resource for outdoor enthusiasts, just reported that 2-year-old Dolly Shivani Cherukuri of India set a national archery record by shooting 72 arrows at two different targets to score 200 points. Though the targets were only 16 and 22 feet away, that’s still an amazing feat considering most toddlers are busy trying to get a handle on basic motor skills!
The Times of India announced that the “India Book of Records” credited Cherukuri with the national record just days before her third birthday, which, according to record-keeping officials, makes her the youngest in the country to achieve this feat. And it looks like this is just a stepping stone for Dolly as she comes from a family of professional archers who have trained her from birth to shoot a bow. Dolly’s father, Cherukuri Satyanarayana, runs an archery academy in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. In 2010, he and his wife lost their son, a competition archer, in an automobile accident. When Dolly was born, her parents said they began training her immediately, building special lightweight arrows for her and having her practice on small-scale bows that she could draw.
According to archery expert Gunjan Abrol, very young children should only train for up to three hours each day to prevent the pressure from becoming detrimental, though Dolly is already practicing expert archery shots. Her family said that the “Guinness Book of World Records” is the next target.
As you might guess, Dolly’s family is quite pleased over her accomplishment. As for me, I’m wondering how many adults she just might be able to beat at my archery club!
