New Delhi: There is a particular stillness that descends when archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam steps to the shooting line. Feet planted in quiet balance, shoulders squared as she draws the bowstring back with mechanical precision. The compound bow rises almost weightlessly in her hands, the scope steadying, her gaze narrowing through it like a lens focused on certainty.The release is invisible — no drama, no recoil. Just the clean, flat sound of an arrow slicing through air, ending at the heart of the target. This is Jyothi in her elements — composed, unhurried, relentlessly consistent. For over a decade, she has been India’s face of compound archery — a figure of discipline and control in a sport that rewards both nerve and nuance.Jyothi’s style is defined by precision under pressure. Her coach often calls her “unflappable”, the rare athlete who seems to slow time in clutch moments. “We do a lot of meditation and visualisation,” Jyothi told TOI in an exclusive interview during the ongoing 2025 Archery Premier League. “It helps me stay in my zone, no matter how the competition is going.”That mental framework has helped her build one of the most successful careers in Indian archery history. Across World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games and World Cups, Jyothi has turned into a synonym for consistency — medals across formats, records rewritten and a quiet leadership that has anchored India’s compound teams for years now.At the 2021 World Archery Championships in Yankton, USA, Jyothi scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win three silver medals in a single edition — in the individual, team and mixed events. That performance elevated her into world reckoning.Two years later, at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, she turned silver into gold. Shooting with unerring rhythm, Jyothi claimed the women’s compound individual gold and added the team and mixed team gold as well — one of India’s landmark moments in archery. “It was emotional,” the 29-year-old said. “I wanted to prove to the world that India can dominate on the world stage.”By 2024 and 2025, Jyothi’s form reached another peak. She dominated the World Cup stages, winning multiple gold and finishing back-to-back seasons as one of the top-ranked compound archers globally.And then came Madrid 2025, a date that carved her name into world-record territory. Paired with rising star Rishabh Yadav in the compound mixed team, Jyothi helped India post a new world record score of 1431 in qualification, surpassing the previous mark of 1429. Individually, she shot a career-best 715 in her 72-arrow qualifying round, one of the highest scores ever recorded by an Indian archer.“I’ve been shooting well over the past couple of seasons, but somewhere I felt that I could give more — there was more left in the tank,” she said. “I felt really good about my rhythm, both of us shot really good, the best of our careers.”Currently, Jyothi occupies a special role in Indian archery — both a mentor as well as mainstay. She helps young archers through world events while keeping her own standards. “It’s not just about winning medals for yourself,” she said. “When we perform well, it opens doors for the next generation. I am always ready to share my knowledge with youngsters which can be beneficial for the Indian team as a whole.”Technically, Jyothi’s process is all about maintaining an approach that’s shaped by a thousand repetitions. “For me, it’s about trusting the process. You can’t control where the arrow lands, you can only control how you shoot it,” she said.
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It’s a deceptively simple line, but it captures her essence. Even during a rare dip, Jyothi refuses to dwell on negatives. “I started to focus more on the positives rather than what went wrong,” she said. “Every arrow is a chance to do better than the last one.”Compound archery will make its debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, with the compound mixed team event being the sole medal event for the discipline.“Winning an Olympic medal remains my ultimate dream. I’m content to have won medals in all international competitions possible, but the Olympics is the biggest thing in the world of sports,” she said.
