Hitting the bull’s-eye from the banks of river Krishna

Archery is one of the oldest sports still practiced, withstanding tests of time and technology. The World Archery Championships were launched in 1931, and till 2021, India had nine silvers and two bronze medals to show for. The hunt for gold resulted in many a heartbreak for a nation historically steeped in the laurels of shooting arrows from the bow.

That changed last week in the Berlin World Archery Championships, when India bagged three gold medals. The promise of a new dawn and a bright future in the sport were firmly solidified.

The historic first was clinched by the Indian women’s compound team, comprising Aditi Gopichand Swami, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Parneet Kaur. Soon after, 17-year-old Aditi shocked the world by becoming the youngest senior World Champion in history. Ojas Deotale went on to add India’s third gold in the individual men’s compound event.

For 27-year-old Jyothi, a four-time silver medallist in the Championships, there was a sense of true vindication. She was the de facto leader of the compound team, shepherding teenagers Parneet (18) and Aditi to glory.

But few know that the soft-spoken archer from Vijayawada began her sporting career as a swimmer, and her effort of crossing the Krishna river thrice in record time as a four-year-old earned her a berth in the Limca Book of World Records. 

“My parents decided to shift me from swimming to archery. They wanted me to switch my game and made that decision. Doing swimming improves your shoulder strength, and the major body part involved in archery is the shoulder. Gaining that strength helped me in my initial days,” Jyothi tells DH in an interaction.

Jyothi first held a bow aged 11, and her innate ability immediately shone through. She won the Olympic round gold medal in the 2009 Mexican Grand Prix. Her first World Championship medal was a silver in 2017, and her first individual World Championship medal was a bronze in 2019. When asked which was her breakthrough moment, Jyothi replies, “The individual bronze I won at the 2019 World Championships, that was the first individual medal for me on the world stage.” 

Indian women’s archery coaching set-up comprises World Champions Sergio Pagni (Compound) and Baek Woong Ki (Recurve). “It is always good to have good mentors working with you. Their experience does matter and they give you the confidence to achieve something big,” says Jyothi.

Not one to crack under any form of pressure, Jyothi’s shooting reflects this. She shares the key to her secret, “I don’t wait for others to give their opinion. For me, I want to self-judge that I am happy with my performance.”

In the Antalya Archery World Cup, Jyothi shot 713 out of a possible 720 in the qualification round, and broke a world record in the process. “Many things happen when you least expect them, that was the one for me. I never made it (360) in practice too. It was unbelievable for me and it took some time to maintain my shooting rhythm. I was only focusing on my shooting process and not on the scores in that tournament.” Jyothi went on to win back-to-back golds in the mixed team and individual events.

With a busy period in store for Indian archers, Jyothi has been preparing hard to stretch her purple patch, “I have been working on my physical strength this year. Mentally too, Sergio being with us, he also added some exercises for us to improve our strength which worked out. Anything can happen, I just want to fight till my last arrow. I am now in a relaxed frame of mind.

"Dream Foundation have supported me in whichever way needed, be it equipment wise or nutrition wise. They got me to interact with nutritionists so that they can help me through the process, and this helps in the performance," Jyothi adds on her tie-up with Dream Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Dream Sports, which is one of India’s leading sports technology companies.

“The results have been really good, so the expectations will be high. As a team, we are trying to improve in the areas we need to. We want to maintain this flow. I want to give my best and bring as many medals as possible for the country,” says Jyothi.