Hours after being felicitated for coaching his ward's win a silver medal at the recently-held Commonwealth Games, archery coach Cherkuri Lenin was killed on the spot in a road accident near Jupudi village, Ibrahimpatnam mandal in Vijayawada, in early hours of Sunday.
Lenin's ward Ritul, along with his father Satyanarayana and friend Jiva Kalyan escaped with minor injuries. His father is the founder-president of Krishna District Archery Association and had set up the Volga Archery Academy.
According to Sub-Inspector Mohan Reddy, Lenin was driving the MUV while returning to Vijayawada after attending the felicitation ceremony at Jubilee Hall in Hyderabad on Saturday. The felicitation ceremony was held to honour the medal winners at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
The mishap took place at around 4am opposite the Srivalli Hotel in Jupudi village when Lenin tried to avoid an oncoming auto-rickshaw and hit the road divider. This led to the MUV he was driving to topple over, killing him on the spot.
Lenin was 27 and a former archer himself. He had won international recognition by capturing many medals in the country and outside it. Lenin had retired from the archery 2 years ago, opting to train budding archers in the academy set up by his father Satyanarayana in the memory of his sister Volga, who had lost her life in a road mishap 5 years earlier.