Jyothi Surekha Vennam ends her Archery World Championships campaign with 3 silver medals

Indian archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam, 25, lost a nerve-wracking thriller to Colombia’s Sara Lopez and settled for silver in the compound women’s individual event at the Archery World Championships 2021 in Yankton, US on Saturday.

Jyothi Surekha Vennam was at her best and shot a perfect final finish but Sara, a five-time World Cup champion, proved to be a challenge for her. Nevertheless, the Indian made sure the Colombian had to work for her victory as Jyothi Surekha Vennam lost by two points (146-144).

For the Vijayawada-born archer, this was her second silver medal at the Worlds as she became the only Indian to have four podium finishes in the showpiece biennial competition.

Jyothi had bagged a silver (Mexico 2017) and a bronze (Den Bosch 2019) in the team events at previous World Championships.

Jyothi Surekha Vennam won two silver in team events

Earlier on Friday, Jyothi Sureha Vennam created history by becoming the first Indian archer to win two medals in the same world championships edition. She was a member of the women’s and mixed pair compound teams which signed off with a second finish at the podium after a lop-sided defeat against Colombia.

India were in the hunt for their maiden gold medal at the world event. Though there is no gold yet, the country has the most podium finishes at the event – 11 – including nine finals and leaving with silver each time.

Jyothi Surekha Vennam dished out a consistent display, shooting 28, 29 and 29 in her first three ends, but the Colombian top seed opened up a two-point lead at the halfway mark, drilling in seven perfect 10s with two X (closest to the center) from nine arrows.

The star Indian mixed pair duo of Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam, who stood fourth in the ranking round, started off with a one-point lead but thereafter it was a story of Colombian dominance. The Indians went down by a four-point margin (150-154).