Taniparthi Chikita, a young archer from Sultanpur village in Peddapalli, has made history by winning gold at the World Youth Archery Championships in Canada.
Despite limited facilities and a rural background, her dedication, perseverance, and talent have taken her to the global stage. Her journey from village fields to international acclaim is an inspiring story of determination and excellence
Despite her rural background and lack of high-level training, Chikita practiced with great dedication. She loved archery. She held her bow, shot arrows, and dreamed of bringing medals to the country, even though there were no facilities available.
There was no encouragement, but she did not stop. She practiced in the village field, shooting arrows at the grass as her target while aiming for medals with concentration and perseverance. She won the gold medal in the World Youth Championship in the Compound category, an achievement no one in India had attained before.
Taniparthi Chikita, a degree student from Sultanpur village of Eligedu mandal, Peddapalli district, participated in the archery competition with exceptional talent and won the Youth Championship, creating history and making the district proud.
Chikita competed in Canada and became a world-class winner, upholding the glory of India and becoming the first Indian athlete to achieve this feat. She is the daughter of farmers Taniparthi Srilatha and Srinivas Rao from Sultanpur village. Chikita completed her class 10 at SPR School in Nagunur, Karimnagar Joint District, her intermediate studies in Garrepalli, Peddapalli District, and is pursuing a degree at LP University in Punjab.
Since childhood, she nurtured a passion for sports alongside her studies. Her interest in archery grew after watching competitions in person and on TV. Determined to excel at the sport, she trained at the City Police Training Centre in Karimnagar. Through hard work, she mastered archery and won silver and bronze medals in two national-level competitions. She also participated in the Asia Cup this year and narrowly missed a medal, finishing fourth.
After midnight on Saturday, she defeated top players, including Yerin Park (Korea) in the final, Pola Diaz (Spain) in the semifinals, and Parjeet Kaur in the quarterfinals, taking her first step toward becoming a world champion.
Srinivas Rao, who wanted his daughter to succeed, hoped to teach Chikita archery when she was six, but the village lacked facilities. He did not give up. He taught Chikita yoga for concentration and karate to build self-confidence. Chikita mastered yoga and earned a black belt in karate. Confident in his daughter’s talent, Srinivas Rao became her coach. He bought a bow, arrows, and other archery equipment from Hyderabad and started training Chikita in their village farm. After the rice harvest, they used the remaining haystack as a target.
Impressing at the district and state levels, Chikita reached the national stage within two years. She won the national sub-junior team category for women, securing two silver medals in archery-one in the individual category and a bronze in the mixed team. These were the first national medals won by a Telangana girl in archery.
Gaining admission to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Archery Academy in Sonipat in 2022 was a turning point in her career. A natural talent, she was further honed by the coaches and mentors there, who brought out her best potential.
The results were remarkable: Chikita won gold at the 2023 Goa National Games, two silver medals at the National Senior Archery Tournament, and two bronze medals at the National Junior Tournament the same year. She also excelled internationally, winning a silver medal in the team category at the World Cup in Shanghai and a bronze medal in the team category at the Asian Grand, finishing fourth individually.
Chikita impressed once again at the Youth World Championship. Despite arriving in Canada just hours before the competition due to an airline staff strike, she competed immediately and defeated top players to win the gold medal. Her journey, which began in Sultanpur and reached the highest peaks in Canada, is truly inspiring.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy congratulated Chikita on winning the gold medal at the World Youth Archery Championships in Canada.
Union Minister for State Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay, IT and Legislative Affairs and Industries Minister Dudilla Sridhar Babu, Minister for Labour and Mines G Vivek Venkata Swamy, Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, SC and ST Minority Welfare Minister Adluri Laxman, Peddapalli MP Gaddam Vamshi, Peddapalli Collector Koya Sree Harsha, and Karimnagar Collector Pamela Satpathy expressed happiness over Chikita’s victory.