Jyothi Surekha Vennam came up with a sensational performance at the Archery World Cup Stage 1 in Antalya, Turkey, as she clinched two gold medals in compound mixed team and individual events on Saturday.
Jyothi and her debutant partner Ojas Deotale were at their ruthless best and prevailed over Chinese Taipei's Chen Yi-Hsuan and Chen Chieh-Lun 159-154 to win the gold in the compound mixed team event. Later, Jyothi overcame the challenge of Colombia's Sara Lopez in the compound individual final 149-146, and with that, she qualified for the World Cup finals to be held at Hermosillo, Mexico, later in the year.
In the absence of India's multiple World Cup winner Abhishek Verma, who failed to make the cut from the national trials, the new-look Indian pair of Jyothi and Ojas hardly seemed short on experience and hit the centre an incredible 15 times from 16 arrows to defeat their 12th-seeded rivals in a lopsided final.
Of the 15 perfect 10s, 12 times they hit the X (closer to the centre).
INDIAN DOMINANCE �� ����
It's gold for Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Pravin Deotale in Antalya#ArcheryWorldCup pic.twitter.com/hhk9OsjifV
- World Archery (@worldarchery) April 22, 2023
The second seeded Jyothi and 20-year-old Ojas dropped just one point only once in the final End, otherwise it would have been a perfect 160/160.
The pair were looking set to break the world record, but Ojas shot a nine with his final arrow. The world record of 160 was set by South Korea's So Chaeowon and Kim Jongho in 2018, which included eight Xs. With another 10, the Indian pair would have broken the record with 12 Xs from their 16 arrows.
In the individual event, Jyothi began the day with a superb victory over world number one Ella Gibson of Great Britain 148-146. She continued her good form in the final against Lopez where she shot only one nine in five Ends.
Throughout the week, Jyothi showed no signs of slowing down. In the individual qualification event, Jyothi equalled Lopez's qualification world record by shooting 713 out of 720.
This was her first individual World Cup gold medal for Jyothi, who's ranked 11 in the world. Before this tournament, she had won a World Cup gold medal in the mixed team event with Verma in 2022.