Ritul recounts last moments

Vijayawada, Oct. 24: The death of Cherukuri Lenin has left his pupil Ritul Chatterjee shocked and sorrowful.

Describing the nightmarish accident, Ritul said, “I was in deep sleep and woke up to a shock as the vehicle tumbled. It happened so fast, I could not think of anything. When I opened my eyes, Leninda was thrown out of the door and was bleeding profusely from his mouth, nose... We tried our best to stop the bleeding and called for help. We applied pressure on his chest to help him breathe. The ambulance came after about 40 minutes but it was all over by then. It was such a frightening experience. Leninda died in front of his father who was helpless, just crying for help.”

Ritul said there was much excitement inside the car when they left Hyderabad around 7.30 pm. “We were overjoyed after the grand felicitation. We were carrying the awards and were in a celebratory mood. Leninda was talking about our preparation plans for the World Championships and World Cup. But everything finished in a few seconds,” the sorrowing silver medallist added.

Ritul was in fact sleeping on the lap of his coach in the middle row but as the fate would have it, Lenin decided to drive and went to the front seat.

This is not the first tragedy in the family. Lenin’s sister Volga, who was also an archer, had passed away four years back after an illness. Volga Academy was started soon after. Lenin is survived by his wife Kranthi.

Big loss to archery: Limba

Kolkata, Oct. 24: Limba Ram, head coach of the Indian archery team, on Sunday said Cherukuri Lenin contributed significantly to their Commonwealth Games silver medal triumph in the men’s compound section.

Limba woke up to the sad news on Sunday when an archery official informed him about the death of the compound archery coach. “I am really disturbed since morning. Few days ago, we were in Delhi together. He along with his father had come to support Jignas and Ritul. They were right behind the duo. They did not perform well in the individual section. Lenin ensured that their performance in the individual section did not affect them in team event,” Limba said.

Few years ago, Limba had visited the Volga Archery Academy. “I was surprised to see them train about 100 archers. They have contributed to India’s success,” he added.

Lenin won many medals

Vijayawada, Oct. 24: Cherukuri Lenin, who died in a road accident on Sunday, had won many medals in national and international events.

He started practising archery at the age of 10 and went on to become a national archer and also a coach.

He shot to fame in 2005 when he won silver medal in Asian
Grand Pix in Malaysia and gold medal in Asian Championship in New Delhi followed by silver medal at the Asian Grand Pix in Bangkok in 2006.

As a national coach, he trained more than 250 archers and eight of them played at national and international levels.
In the recently held Commonwealth Games, his trainee, Ritul Chaterjee won silver medal.

At school he used to play football but later shifted to archery with his father’s support.

Lenin, modest to core

Hyderabad/ Vijayawada, Oct. 24: If simplicity ever was a virtue, then Cherukuri Lenin had it in hoards. For an archer who had achieved glory not just in India but also overseas, he came across as a modest individual. Moments after his wards — Ritul Chatterjee and Chittibomma Jignas won silver in the compound team event at the Commonwealth Games, Lenin had remarked, “The credit for this medal-winning show goes solely to Ritul and Jignas. Both have worked hard for it and my job was to only guide them.”

Lenin appeared to be a man on a mission, wanting to produce world-class archers from VMC Volga Archery Academy, set up by his father in Vijayawada. “We have left no stone unturned in putting up the right infrastructure in order to bring out the best from our Academy,” he had said.

Lenin had undergone a few courses to hone his skills in the game and was actively involved as a player too. “Since he was a player who had turned to coaching, he could comprehend both areas of archery and was always willing to share his experience,” said fellow archer Isaiah Sanam who had teamed up with Lenin in many events.

Cherukuri Satyanarayana, the grieving father of Lenin, avowed to continue coaching. “Students of Volga Archery Academy will win a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics to fulfill the desire of Lenin and pay homage to their departed young coach,” he said.

“His death would create a very big void in Vijayawada where he called all the shots. He was a person who single-handedly managed the show and his demise is a big blow for the sport,” Isaiah said.

Lenin has lost his life to the road, but the dedication he showed to the game will remain etched in the memory of many for years to come.

Pic Caption:
Archery coach Cherukuri Lenin (right) receives a citation from Chief Minister K. Rosaiah at the state function in Hyderabad on Saturday to felicitate Commonwealth Games medal winners. Lenin was heading home to Vijayawada after this function when he died in a road accident.