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Jyothi Surekha Vennam has collected much than 90 medals crossed the Asian Games, Asian and World Championships, World Cups and beyond, but numbers unsocial neglect to seizure what she has become. In Indian sport, she exists successful a uncommon class of athlete: the benignant who is expected to triumph earlier the archetypal arrow is adjacent drawn. A definite shot, arsenic they telephone it. A load disguised arsenic praise.
With compound archery preparing for its Olympic debut astatine the 2028 Los Angeles Games, that certainty is acceptable to beryllium amplified into thing brighter, heavier, harder to ignore. It is successful this gathering airy that The Hindu travelled to Vijayawada – crossing a stream she erstwhile mastered arsenic a five-year-old (which rocketed her into the Limca Book of Records) – to conscionable 1 of the country’s astir formidable athletes.
Surekha’s satellite does not denote itself. It hides successful plain sight. A gated community. A doorway nary antithetic from the others. A location that could beryllium to anyone – until it does not. Inside, soundlessness gives mode to shimmer. Medals drawback the airy similar fragments of a long, relentless speech with time.
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What was erstwhile a chamber has surrendered itself to memory, becoming a walk-in archive of effort and repetition, of aboriginal mornings, missed shots, and moments of precision. Even now, it overflows – trophies resting wherever determination is nary abstraction near for them.
It is present that the 29-year-old sat down, surrounded by the grounds of everything she had done, to talk not conscionable of winning, but of carrying what winning leaves down and what lies ahead.
Thrown successful the heavy end
Long earlier the plethora of medals, earlier the anticipation that she would ne'er instrumentality location “empty-handed,” earlier compound archery yet recovered its spot astatine the Olympics, Surekha was an eight-year-old crying due to the fact that she did not privation to instrumentality up archery aft getting utilized to the regular of swimming.
Sports ran successful the family. Her gramps was a carnal acquisition teacher who trained athletes for kabaddi. Her father, Vennam Surendran Kumar, played the athletics himself astatine the assemblage level earlier moving connected to a vocation successful veterinary science. Surendran and his wife, Sri Durga, made each large determination regarding their daughter’s engagement successful sports.
“My parents chose archery mostly due to the fact that it’s an idiosyncratic crippled and involves much attraction and focus,” Surekha explained. The thought to prime the compound vertical was to let her the abstraction to besides equilibrium her academics.
“We heard past that to sprout a recurve bow, I would person to springiness a batch of time. It mightiness impact my studies. My parents were precise wide that adjacent if I’m into sports, I should not neglect my education. They wanted maine to person a program B if a beingness successful sports did not cookware out.”
Jyothi Surekha with her father, Vennam Surendran Kumar, and mother, Sri Durga. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri
It was not emotion astatine archetypal show for Surekha with archery. The affection arrived gradually. When she struck six golden medals astatine her archetypal nationals, astatine the U-13 level successful 2008, the athletics latched connected to her, permanently now.
Unsurprisingly, the narration of 1 of the astir consequential moments of her beingness comes with restraint: “I was like… okay, I americium blessed with it.”
International archery wasn’t arsenic instantly rewarding. Silvers and bronzes kept getting collected, but golds were elusive astatine first.
“It took maine 12 World Cups to triumph a medal, and determination were situations wherever radical were coming into the squad for the archetypal clip and they won one. I often asked myself, ‘Why americium I not capable to triumph a medal successful the World Cup?’ I was truly upset astir it for a agelong time.”
Earning her flowers
That drought would extremity successful 2018.
“That twelvemonth was truly large due to the fact that successful each 4 stages of the World Cup, we won bronze successful the mixed squad event, and I besides got to triumph 2 silvers successful the women’s squad class arsenic well.”
Each twelvemonth of the astir 2 decades she has spent successful archery has seen a generous sprinkling of medals crossed tiers of competition. But a fewer moments basal out. The 2023 Archery World Cup is 1 of them, wherever she changeable 713 retired of a imaginable 720 successful the archetypal signifier successful Antalya to lucifer the erstwhile satellite record.
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“Funnily, successful training, I felt I was missing something. I was not assured astatine all. But I knew that it takes conscionable 1 changeable oregon a azygous feeling to bring you back. During the qualification, idiosyncratic changeable 360 portion I had changeable 353, which wasn’t excessively bad. In the 2nd half, I changeable a afloat 360. It’s thing I haven’t adjacent done successful practice. That was the archetypal and past clip I managed that (laughs).”
Her archetypal idiosyncratic medal was different memorable milestone, coming astatine the 2019 World Championships. Her archetypal idiosyncratic World Cup medal came successful Paris successful 2022.
The Jyothi Surekha look for occurrence and crawling retired of a rut is arsenic elemental and no-nonsense arsenic she herself is. Three hours of signifier successful the morning, 3 hours successful the 2nd half, positive 1 hr of carnal enactment accompanying either session. Journaling and visualisation sessions besides fig without a interruption successful her timetable.
“I conscionable visualise that I americium determination successful an arena, shooting my best. I absorption connected the process, however I privation to execute a changeable and marque definite I visualise doing it astatine the aforesaid spot repeatedly truthful it doesn’t look caller to maine erstwhile I get there.”
And erstwhile things work, the ‘celebration’ is conscionable arsenic simple.
“Most of the time, erstwhile I win, I telephone my parents. We speech astir crystal cream. No peculiar flavour, conscionable immoderate crystal cream.”
Jyothi Surekha became 1 of the youngest recipients of the prestigious Arjuna Award successful 2017. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri
Many of the medals adorning the walls of Surekha’s location were victories without an audience. So erstwhile she became 1 of the youngest recipients of the prestigious Arjuna Award successful 2017, it was vindication for her, yes, but much for her parents.
“My parents ever wanted maine to gain the Arjuna Award. When it did come, my begetter kept reminding maine that this should present spur maine connected to beryllium much liable and support giving my best.”
It did. She went from spot to strength. Among her achievements was a sensational triple golden astatine the Hangzhou Asian Games successful 2023, wherever she scooped up apical honours successful the women’s individual, mixed squad and women’s squad events, becoming the archetypal Indian to triumph aggregate golden medals successful archery astatine a azygous Asian Games.
Perhaps, the relentlessness of the thrust her parents prioritised to support achieving tinges her father’s dependable erstwhile helium expresses regret that she is yet to marque the recipient database of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna honour, the country’s highest sporting award.
Right for recognition
What could extremity the scales? An Olympic medal, maybe?
Surekha’s vocation coincides fortunately with the induction of her class successful the roster for the Los Angeles Games successful 2028. When the announcement came through, Surekha was successful Florida with the Indian team.
“It was the archetypal time of the World Cup. After our league was completed, we had our luncheon and were waiting for our autobus erstwhile suddenly, World Archery radical came astir capturing reactions to the news. Every compound archer was truly happy. I instantly called my parents.”
She, however, was speedy to enactment that joyousness into perspective. One that came from uncovering restitution successful a subject that has agelong survived extracurricular the halo of the revered quadrennial extravaganza.
“Olympics is conscionable the sanction of the event. It’s the aforesaid archers who are competing astatine the World Championships, World Cups and more. In India, thing other matters too the Olympics. But it’s not true. There are galore tournaments conscionable arsenic big.
Otherwise blessed to marque bash with a fewer words successful her responses, Surekha’s thoughts bespeak immense clarity, and perhaps, adjacent a small dissatisfaction.
“That position needs to change. Because possibly if it does, possibly if the Olympics are not fixed that overmuch priority, the athletes who are competing determination tin execute adjacent much freely without immoderate unit and springiness their champion show and triumph much medals for our country.”
Still, the value of the level and its positives, peculiarly for compound archery, is not mislaid connected her.
Jyothi Surekha is each acceptable to pb India’s complaint astatine the 2026 Asian Games. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri
“If you look astatine history, erstwhile anyone wins a medal successful the Olympics, that athletics arsenic a full grows. For example, look astatine badminton, javelin propulsion and wrestling. There is truthful overmuch hype that comes astir for the idiosyncratic winning a medal and the athletics they play. The involvement automatically grows due to the fact that of the publicity and that takes the athletics to the adjacent level.”
Perhaps that is what makes Surekha specified a compelling jock to perceive to close now. At a clip erstwhile Indian athletics progressively celebrates noise, branding, and spectacle, she represents thing quieter and acold much enduring.
Discipline without drama. Ambition without arrogance. Confidence without demonstration. None of this happens successful isolation. Surekha knows what it means to endure uncertainty. She knows what it means to pursuit excellence successful a athletics that does not ever person attention. She knows the affectional outgo of expectation, the loneliness of underperformance, the patience required to support showing up. But done each of it, the happening she values astir is remarkably human: the assurance that idiosyncratic volition inactive beryllium determination erstwhile the contention ends.
Slow and steady
“You person to judge successful yourself, and you person to person a bully enactment system, beryllium it mentally oregon financially, to travel into sports. If 1 has a beardown familial enactment system, they’re blessed erstwhile you’re successful. But, much importantly, they’ll beryllium good if you aren’t too.”
Surekha has made the squad for the 2026 Asian Games successful Japan. The drill remains the same. What volition alteration are the eyeballs and the strengthening of the “she volition bring location something” belief.
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“I person been listening to radical saying that we cognize that you volition not travel empty-handed. We for definite cognize that you volition get thing oregon the other, astatine slightest a medal, 1 medal from a tournament. I americium truly fortunate that radical deliberation that way, that they trust, nary substance what, that I’ll bring backmost something. It pushes maine to enactment successful the aforesaid enactment each time and guarantee I don’t instrumentality with immoderate regrets astir not giving my best.”
By the clip the 2028 Los Angeles Games arrive, the spotlight astir Surekha volition lone turn brighter. India volition look astatine her and spot the anticipation of past waiting to happen.
She volition astir apt locomotion into that Olympic arena the aforesaid mode she has walked into each different tourney successful her life: without allowing the enormity of the infinitesimal to swallow her. Because agelong earlier the Olympics entered her sport, Surekha had already mastered thing acold much difficult: separating who she is from what she wins.
