CHENNAI: Between the World Archery Championship in Germany, the Archery World Cup Stage 4 in France and the Archery World Cup final in Mexico, Jyothi Surekha Vennam has hardly spent time with her family. With the Asian Games up next, her time away from home will continue. One of India’s most decorated compound archers is primed for glory.
“It has been only three days since we started to practice after coming back from the World Cup Final,” Jyothi, who represented India alongside Aditi Swami in the Archery World Cup Final in Mexico, told this daily.
“It is going well for us in Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Sonepat Campus. This is the time for us to track our improvement or make changes to be fully prepared for the Asian Games.”
The result in Mexico was a hard pill to swallow for India’s compound archers as Prathamesh Jawkar was the only one who finished on the podium with silver. Jyothi crashed out of the first round against eventual gold medalist Sara Lopez, while Aditi couldn’t go past the first round as well. Even with the unfavourable results in hot Mexican conditions, the 27-year-old has opted to look at the silver linings.
“It was an amazing experience (to play the World Cup final in Mexico) after a long travel time. The results didn’t go our way. But I believe, we learned a lot from it and in the future, we will be able to use that experience,” she added.
With the Asian Games approaching fast, Jyothi and the team — Swami, Parneet Kaur, and Avneet Kaur — will get the opportunity to use those lessons in China.
The 19th edition of the Asian Games will also mark the return of the individual categories after missing out on the 2018 edition in Indonesia. Jyothi is particularly happy to see the individual category make a comeback.
“When the individual events were part of the Asian Games in 2014, India won medals in both men’s and women’s individual events. It was not part of the 2018 event. But now it is re-introduced in the Asian Games, so we hope to win medals in all categories. India has been doing well throughout the year so, we are confident of making it count at the Asian Games,” she said with delight.
At this year’s event. Jyothi is the only archer who has experience of playing at the Asian Games amongst her teammates. But the senior-most member of the squad has full confidence in her teammates.
“They have been playing at the Asian and World championship level consistently this year. And not just that but they have been winning at these events as well. It’s not like they are directly going for the Asian Games. They have their own set of experiences now. That will definitely help them and the team.
“Avneet has won a bronze medal at World Cup Stage 2 to go with her gold at the World University Games. (Aditi and Parneet) are doing extremely well. They are at the junior and the cadet level but still performing best for the senior team. Not only that, they are also winning the medals. We want the new archers to come and be part of archery to take it forward in India,” Jyothi notes.
Before leaving for Hangzhou, the entire squad is preparing at the SAI’s National Center for Excellence in Sonepat. And Jyothi is grateful for their support on and off the archery field.
“SAI has helped a lot not just for archers but other sports, too. I have been practicing at the Sonepat facility for the longest time because it has some of the best facilities. With the Asian Games in mind, they also appointed a foreign coach, Sergio Pagni, for us. That has helped us a lot. With many SAI schemes, a lot of young athletes are getting the opportunity to perform better.”
With compound archery not being part of the Olympics yet, outside of the events organised by World Archery, Asian Games is probably one of the biggest challenges for Jyothi and the archers. Even with all the pressure, she has her mantra decided for herself.
“I want to concentrate on my shooting. If I shoot well, arrows will automatically hit better. I aim to give my best at the Asian Games, and not have regrets later about not performing to my best,” she added. After clinching a bronze in 2014 and a silver in the 2018 edition of the Asian Games, Jyothi Surekha Vennam is all set to finally bring gold back home.