Archery
World Archery C'ships 2023: Can Jyothi Surekha Vennam win a first ever gold for India?
India has never produced a senior World Archery champion. Jyothi Surekha Vennam, the highest seed left among women's compound archers at the 2023 WAC, could change that this week.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam (File Photo/World Archery)
The World Archery Championships (WAC) in Berlin have so far brought disappointment for Indian archers in terms of Olympic quotas, but a brilliant turn of events is playing out for compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam.
The highest seed left in the draw after Thursday's elimination rounds, Jyothi is now in line to win India a first ever gold in WAC. In the 92 years since the start of the event, India have won 11 medals - 9 silver and 2 bronze - but no gold medals.
In the individual eliminations on the day, all six Indian recurve archers failed to reach the quarterfinals.
In compound archery, a non-Olympic event, one male archer, Pravin Ojas Deotale, and all three women archers - Jyothi, Parneet Kaur and Aditi Gopichand Swami - made it to the quarters to keep India's medal hopes alive.
Jyothi, who beat Korean archer Yoo Hyun in the pre-quarters, is slated to face Parneet in the quarters and Aditi is also in the same half of the draw. This means that if Aditi can win her quarterfinal, one spot in the final is guaranteed for India.
The biggest surprise development of the day was the elimination of last year's world champion and GOAT of compound archery, Sara Lopez, in the pre-quarterfinals. This leaves Jyothi, the second seed, the favourite for the gold medal.
Jyothi's splendid run of form in 2023
India has never produced a senior World Archery champion.
Jyothi, who is based at India’s National Centre in Sonipat, has been showing with her recent form that she could be the best bet to give India a first world champion archer. She won individual bronze at the WAC in 2019 and a individual silver at the 2021 edition in Yankton.
This year, she has taken her game a notch higher. She won a maiden individual compound gold at the Antalya stage of the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup, besides two compound mixed team gold medals on the international circuit – in Antalya and Shanghai.
Jyothi has a great chance of winning India's first gold at the WAC because she is also in the women's compound team final. The women’s team comprising Jyothi, Parneet Kaur and Aditi Swami jolted defending champions Colombia 220-216 to enter the final earlier.
