CHENNAI: On a windy, overcast noon in the city of Nanjing in China, history was waiting to be made. On her third appearance in the World Cup final, decorated compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam was dominating the proceedings in the bronze medal match on Saturday. Facing World Number Two archer from Great Britain Ella Gibson, Surekha was off to a flyer. Striking perfect tens in all four ends despite unfavourable conditions. The fifth end, was more of a formality.
"Coming into the fifth end, I wanted to get good three arrows. I was counting the shots. I wanted to make sure that I was shooting the way I was shooting from the beginning," she told this daily from Nanjing. She ensured that she finished the campaign on a high, scoring perfect 10s in the final end, to become the first Indian woman compound archer to win a medal in this tournament. "It was good to see that become 150/150. Even if the points were at 149, I wanted to ensure that I put in my best," she added.
When she got to know that she was the first Indian to achieve this feat, Surekha remained unfazed. "I just wanted to put in my best, I didn't know that had I won the medal that I would be first Indian (woman). For me, it is just another medal for my country and my family," she said.
Twenty minutes before that historic bronze medal tie, where the weather improved, Surekha was up against world Number One women's compound archer from Mexico Andrea Becerra. There, Surekha had a good start. Taking a 87-86 lead after the third end, Surekha then went down 116-115 in the fourth end, before losing 145-143 in the final end. As a result, she narrowly missed out on a spot in the final. "The weather (at Nangjin) was not so good to shoot. It was windy, cold and drizzling, too. I was not able to shoot and feel my muscles. I couldn't feel anything and not put my best in the quarter and semi-final," she explained.
Considering the fact that she missed out on a medal in the previous world cup finals at Tlaxcala (2024) and Hermosillo (2023), heartbreak in the semi-final may seem a tough one on Surekha. But the Asian games medallist felt that she had "my last chance to make it to the podium."
"I was focused on my shooting rather than thinking about other things and I managed it quite well!," she explained.
While Surekha may shift her focus to the next event, her medal was a joyous celebration in Surendra Kumar Vennam's home. Surekha's father watched on as her daughter make history, and bagging her 88th career medal. "She had to battle through a lot in the Finals. The conditions in the previous two finals as well as in Nanjing were unfavourable," Kumar said