India's medal winners at the 2021 Archery World Championship
India won three medals at the Archery World Championship, which took place in Yankton, USA from September 19-26
Even though star recurve archers, like Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das, did not compete at the 2021 Archery World Championships in Yankton, USA from September 19-26, India had a successful outing.
The country has never won a World Championship gold but came agonizingly close as they reached three finals this time around. But the team had to settle for three silver medals, all of which came from their compound bow contingent.
The World Championship was the first big archery event since Tokyo 2020. Here’s a look at India’s medal winners:
Jyothi Surekha Vennam (silver)
Jyothi Surekha Vennam had a part to play in each of the three medals India won.
She won the last of the three medals on Saturday, picking up silver in the individual compound women’s event. The 25-year-old shot a perfect 30 in the last round she went down 144-146 to Colombia’s Sara Lopez in the gold medal match.
“I’m happy because I made it to the final in all three areas, but a little disappointed because I couldn’t perform my best in the individual event,” Vennam was quoted as saying by the official World Archery website.
“This time it’s a change to silver, so I’m happy regarding that because I got to step ahead in life, but a little unhappy because I couldn’t make it to the gold.”
This was the sixth podium finish for Jyothi, who now has four silver and two bronze medals at the World Championship.
Compound women’s team (silver)
The Indian women’s compound team of Priya Gurjar, Muskan Kirar and Jyothi bagged a silver in Yankton. They lost 224-229 to Colombia’s Sara Lopez, Alejandra Usquiano and Nora Valdez in the final.
On a windy day, the Colombian team handled the conditions, and the nerves, better than their Indian counterparts.
Compound mixed team (silver)
Jyothi teamed up with experienced archer Abhishek Verma for a silver in the compound mixed team event. They went down fighting to Colombian duo of Sara Lopez and Daniel Munoz 154-150.
Though India had a one-point lead, they shot two 9s and one 8 in the second end to squander the advantage. The Colombian pair, meanwhile, shot a perfect 40/40 in the third end to win their first gold medal.