Indian archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam misses out on Asian Games berth

Indian compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam crashed out of the Asian Games selection trials following a below-par performance in Sonepat on Wednesday.

The ongoing selection trials have thrown a lot of surprises. After Tokyo Olympians Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das and Pravin Jadhav failed to make the cut in the recurve category, four-time World Championship silver medallist in the compound category, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, came a cropper on Wednesday.

Vennam misjudged her timing and exited first from the elimination round. The Andhra Pradesh-based archer, who won silver and bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games, struggled to judge the wind direction from the start.

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Avneet Kaur topped the elimination round to make the cut from the women's half for the Asian Games, scheduled to be held in Hangzhou from September 10-25.

Out of the remaining six archers, three will make the cut during Wednesday's round-robin matches.

The men's section, meanwhile, did not see any surprises as 2014 Asian Games gold medalist Avishek Verma finished on top to seal his berth.

Jyothi Surekha Vennam could still have a chance, says official

While selecting the Asian Games team almost six months in advance in a precision sport like archery may sound strange, a selection committee member defended the decision as they wanted to have a core group ready.

"The four archers who fell behind may still get a chance if there is a difference of more than 10 points between the archers," an Archery Association of India official told the media. "The youngsters are faring really well. Jyothi has dipped in form but she will get a second chance if she improves."

The same archery team will also participate in three World Cup legs -- Antalya (April 17-24), Shanghai (May 15-22) and Paris (June 19-26) -- preceding the Asian Games in September.