CHENNAI: Jyothi Surekha Vennam stood with her bow and arrow with only five points separating India and the history books at the World Archery Championships in Berlin. The ever-calm and collected ‘Queen of Indian Archery’ notched nine points to end India’s long wait for the gold medal at the prestigious event on Friday.
The 27-year-old has an impressive resume at the same tournament where she boasts six medals since 2017, including four silvers and two bronze medals in the Compound category. Even at the latest event in Berlin, along with her team medal, Jyothi bagged the bronze medal in the individual category as well. With that, the archer from Vijayawada has now taken her tally to nine of India’s 13 medals in the World Championship.
Coming from a humble family in Andhra Pradesh, Jyothi was never far away from sports in her family. Her grandfather was a coach of Kabaddi in Andhra Pradesh, and her father continued to play Kabaddi. While her father could continue with the sport, he was aware of what it takes to make a sportsperson. “We come from a middle-class agrarian family in Andhra Pradesh,” Jyothi’s father Surendra Kumar Vennam told this daily. When it came to funding her training and other needs, Surendra Kumar didn’t think twice before selling his land. “When she made it to the international level, she had to go to the USA for training to better her technique. We had to spend a lot of money on coaching and other fees. I sold some of my land to facilitate some of the money,” her proud father added.
It is such sacrifices that have made Jyothi who she is today. Before turning to archery, Jyothi, at the age of three years, swam five kilometres across the river Krishna to set a record as the ‘youngest swimmer’ to cross the river. She turned to archery at the age of 11 at the suggestion gymnastics coach. “Her endurance and shoulder power was better than her leg power in swimming. Rammohan, the gymnastic coach from SAI, who was posted in Vijayawada suggested she should switch to rifle shooting or archery as a better sport for Jyothi. At that time rifle shooting was not available in Andhra Pradesh, so we went with Archery.” he added.
Even at the World Championships, while leading a young side comprised of 19-year-old Parneet Kaur and 17-year-old Aditi Gopichand Swami, her focus was on winning the elusive gold medal for India. After beating defending champions Colombia 220-216 in the semi-final with windy conditions, she had a bigger goal in sight. “Our match was against the wind today,” her teammate Aditi told World Archery after booking the finals slot. “Our competition was tough, but we are happy with the results,” she added.
The experienced Jyothi was aware of the history at stake when she spoke to World Archery. “For our country, this Friday will be a chance to win our first gold medal at the World Championship. We will simply focus on shooting well so that we do our best and win the gold medal and take it back to India,” she said.
She kept her word and helped India win the first-ever gold medal at the event. Since then, India has added two more gold medals, both in individual categories, to their tally and is currently at the top of the table with three gold medals and a bronze. Jyothi has kept India's flag flying at the World Championships for the longest time and from the looks of it, many more archers are to follow.