When the International Olympic Committee (IOC), on Wednesday, declared compound archery as the newest entrant to the 2028 Los Angeles Games programme, it gave rise to a wave of optimism in the Indian set-up. On Saturday, Jyothi Vennam and Rishabh Yadav showed that the hope isn’t misplaced.
Vennam and Yadav combined to win the gold medal at the World Cup Stage 1 in the mixed team event, which will also feature at the LA Olympics. Vennam and Yadav combined to beat Chinese Taipei’s Huang I-Jou and Chen Chieh-Lun 153-151, staging a stunning comeback in the final set to win the title.
“I did not think separately that it’s an Olympic event now. The thought as always was to give our best here and to fight till the last shot,” Vennam told The Indian Express from Florida. “Now that the spotlight will be on compound archers as it is now an Olympic event, I am more glad to start (the season) with a gold medal.”
Winning a gold medal isn’t a new feeling for Vennam. However, as she pointed out, with increased scrutiny likely on compound archers given its new status as an Olympic event, the pressures will be different. And opponents like Chinese Taipei, whom India had previously defeated without much fuss, will likely punch above their weight.
But Saturday’s gold medal reasserts India’s prowess in this format. Ranked world number 2, behind the USA, this was India’s second World Cup gold medal in the mixed team event, in addition to the two silvers won last year, a World Championship silver and a bunch of continental titles, including the Asian Games.
And unlike the recurve archers, who have made it a habit to crumble under pressure, the compounders seem to thrive. Like they did in Saturday’s final.
The Indian team was trailing by one point post the first round. With Yadav and Vennam shooting an 8 and 9 off the first two shots, and with the Chinese Taipei archers shooting a 10 each, the Indian team was trailing by three points halfway in the first round.
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Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Rishabh Yadav with coach Lokesh Chand. (World archery)
Vennam and Yadav reduced the deficit by hitting the bullseye while the Taipei pair shot 9 each. The cat-and-mouse game continued after Vennam managed only an 8 in the following series, with heavy winds playing their part, which meant that the Indian pair fell back by three points.
“Even when the eight came, we did not think about the scores as we knew that it was windy. So the focus was just to shoot own shot and also to gauge the wind and update Rishabh and vice versa on his turn,” Vennam said.
Yadav added: “Even though we were three points behind after the first two shots, we knew that it came due to the wind flowing fast during our 40 seconds to shoot the first two shots. So we had to see it like a patience game and talked about how one bad shot cannot decide the final.”
Trailing as they entered the deciding set, the Indian duo regrouped themselves and barely put a foot wrong, transferring the pressure on the Chinese Taipei archers who hit a nine each — the only time they made an error, Jou and Lun were made to pay for it as Vennam and Yadav clinched the tie 153-151.
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Yadav was shooting in a mixed team format for the second time with Vennam, a World Championships mixed team silver medallist. Yadav had earlier won the silver medal along with Vennam in the Asian Championships In Dhaka in 2021. The 22-year-old from Gurgaon had finished 11th in men’s qualification earlier and edged out 2021 World Championship mixed team silver medallist Abhishek Verma, who finished 12th, for the team pairing with Vennam.
The pair showed impeccable understanding and complemented each other well to beat not just their opponents, but also the conditions. “In these (windy) conditions, we cannot rely on the flag or matrix solely. Hence, I was standing behind Jyothi Didi to update her about the wind and she did the same. It worked for us and I am glad to win my first mixed World Cup medal for India,” said Yadav, who earlier was part of the bronze medal-winning Indian men’s team on Wednesday.
Coach Lokesh Chand also shared about the challenge faced by the Indian team. “The key in windy conditions is to negate the body shock by wind and to try to shoot by aiming off a bit to understand the wind direction. To maintain the body stability amid winds is the main challenge and that’s what we practice in camps too and worked for us here in Florida,” said the coach.
As for Vennam, it’s the start of a busy season. After a brief visit home later this week, she will return to the World Cup circuit soon. “We have three more World Cups and World Championships in Korea. So this gold will set the form for us for that,” said Vennam.
