Jyothi Surekha
Jyothi Surekha Vennam (born 3 July 1996) is an Indian archer.[3] She competes in the compound discipline, a non-Olympic event debuting at the 2028 LA Olympics. She has won gold medals at the World Championships, World Cup, Asian Games and the Asian Championships. In 2025, she and Rishabh Yadav set the mixed team world record with a score of 1431 at the 2025 World Cup.[4]
Early life and education
Surekha was born in Challapalli in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh to Vennam Surendra Kumar and Sri Durga.[1] Her father is a former Kabaddi player and a veterinary doctor in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.[3]
She started swimming at the age of 3. In 2001, she swam 5 km across the Krishna River in three hours, 20 minutes and six seconds and became the youngest to enter the Limca Book of Records.[5] Jyothi completed her schooling from Nalanda Vidya Niketan, Vijayawada. She did her B.Tech. and MBA at Koneru Lakshmaiah University, a deemed university.[6][7]
Career
Surekha started practicing archery from the age of 11, participating in various tournaments at the junior level.[1] In 2011, she won a bronze medal at the 2011 Asian Archery Championships held in Tehran, Iran.[8] In 2013, She won two bronze medals at the 2013 World Archery Youth Championships held at Wuxi, China.[9][10] She had competed in five Asian Archery Championships winning four gold, four silver and two bronze medals. She have also competed in multiple Archery World Cups winning five gold, four silver and seven bronze medals.[1]
She won three silver medals in the 2021 World Archery Championships becoming the first Indian to do so and has won one gold, four silver and three bronze medals in the World Archery Championships.[11][1] In January 2022, she finished in first place in the Women’s Open Pro event at the Lancaster Archery Classic held near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States.[12] In 2023, Jyoti won three gold medals in the 2022 Asian Games becoming the first Indian to win multiple gold medals in archery.[13]
Awards and accolades
- Pratibha Puraskar by Government of Andhra Pradesh (2001)[7]
- Exceptional Achievement Award by Government of India (2002)[7]
- Golden Target award by World Archery Federation (2013)[7]
- Arjuna Award by Government of India (2017)[14][7]
- TOISA Archer of the Year by Times of India (2021)[15]
- ESPN India's Female Athlete of the Year.[16]
In 2017, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu awarded her a cash prize of INR 1 crore (10 million) along with a housing site of 500 sq. yards in Vijayawada or Amaravati.[17]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Vijayawada archer Jyothi Surekha wins three silver medals at World championship". Times of India. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- ^ "World Archery Rankings". worldarchery.sport. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ a b "Jyothi Surekha Vennam". World Archery. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ "Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Surekha Vennam set new world record at Madrid | World Archery". www.worldarchery.sport. 8 July 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "Shooting straight". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ "Jyothi Surekha Vennam Biography: Age, weight, archery, achievements". KreedOn. 2 July 2019. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Take a bow". Deccan Chronicle. 6 October 2023. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ "Indian women bags bronze medal in Asian Archery championship". Deccan Chronicle. 21 October 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ "19th Asian Championships + CQT Asia". World Archery. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
- ^ "World Youth Championship". archery.org. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ "Archery World Championships: Jyothi Surekha Vennam stuns world No 2 to win second bronze of the day". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ Kasprzak, Emma (31 January 2022). "Ella Gibson finishes 3rd at Lancaster Archery Classic". Archery GB. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
- ^ "Archery WC: Jyothi clinches two gold medals". ESPN. 22 April 2023. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "National Sports Awards: Centre unveils list, cricket sensation Harmanpreet Kaur to receive Arjuna Award". Financial Express. 22 August 2017. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ "TOISA 2021: Neeraj Chopra headlines the list of winners". The Times of India. New Delhi. 14 October 2021. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Female Athlete of the Year: With consistent excellence, Jyothi Surekha Vennam keeps setting the targets for Indian archery". ESPN. 25 December 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ ANI (31 August 2017). "Andhra CM rewards Guinness record holder, archer Jyothi Surekha". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.