Who is Jyothi Vennam? Everything you need to know about the Asian Games gold medallist

Jyothi Vennam and Ojas Deotale stood tall amidst the ruins and defeated their South Korean opponents by one point to bag the second gold medal in archery here in Hangzhou at the Asian Games 2023.

In this game, which was held between the top two seeds, Jyothi and Deotale pipped So Chaewon and Joo Jaehoon 159-158. It is to be noted that India beat Kazakhstan in the semifinals by 159-154, shooting all tens and just one nine.

This win will make both Vennam and Deotale extremely proud. India's archers have assured at least four medals for themselves in this event, one better than their showing at Incheon in 2014 where they bagged a men's team compound gold, a silver, and a bronze.

Who is Jyothi Vennam?

Archery World Cup 2023 Stage 4 - France

Born in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, Jyothi Surekha Vennam is one of the few athletes representing the state in this year's Asian Games.

Jyothi's father is a veterinarian and also a former kabaddi player. He has been known to be instrumental in her rise to the top.

At the tender age of four, Jyothi found her name being etched in the Limca book of records for swimming across the raging Krishna River three times, covering a distance of 5 kilometres in three hours, 20 minutes, and six seconds. She was, quite possibly, destined for great things from that age itself.

One of Jyothi's biggest achievements was becoming the first Indian archer along with teammates Aditi Gopichand Swami and Parneet Kaur to win a gold medal at the World Archery Championships in the compound Women's Team final earlier this year.

She has also won golds in the Archery World Cup held in Paris in 2022 in the compound mixed event as well as two more of the same in Antalya in 2023 in the compound mixed and compound individual events respectively.

Jyothi has a list of medals that is bound to make any budding archer salivate. Apart from the ones mentioned above, she also has four gold medals to her credit in the Asian Archery Championships.

Jyothi is the nation's pride and has made India immensely proud after bagging the gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games.

She has put India on the world map of archery, as the gold she won along with Ojas Deotale gave India its record-breaking 71st medal in the ongoing Asian Games.

She is poised to play another gold medal match, this time against SO Chaewon of South Korea in the compound women's individual event, on 7 October. She is also a part of the women's compound team event.