Archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam overcomes demons with fairytale comeback

Compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam celebrated her return to the national team with twin medals at the recently-concluded Word Cup Stage 3 in Paris. The 25-year-old teamed up with the seasoned Abhishek Verma to bag a mixed-team gold and followed it up with an individual silver, losing to Britain's Ella Gibson after a thrilling shoot-off.

PREMIUM

Podiums are not new to Vennam — a six-time World Championships medallist — but success in Paris was special as it came after a shock exit from the India team this March. She entered the World Cup selection trials (for first three of the four World Cup Stages) as the national and Asian champion but lost her bearings on the final day.

At the end of the round-robin format, Vennam found herself eighth, and for the first time in six years, out of the team. "I dominated the trials for one-and-a-half days but my game fell apart towards the end. It was quite windy and I just couldn't shoot straight," Vennam said from Paris.

"Losing my place in the team wasn't a great feeling. I took me a while to come to terms with it. I couldn't believe I had shot that bad," she said. Coach Lokesh Chand was equally astounded. "It took us a week to accept it, but gradually, we started to rebuild," he said.

In between, Vennam took a break from training and went home, in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada. "I had to get out of that shock. My family and close friends did their best in pulling me out of that spiral of overthinking. Eventually, I realised that this is sports and anything can happen here."

Help also arrived in the form of Abhishek Verma who did his best to motivate his downcast teammate. "Abhishek bhaiyya would constantly egg me on. He told me that such things happen in sports and there can always be comebacks," she recalled.

By the time the archer returned to her training base at SAI's Sonepat centre, coach Chand was ready with a plan. The first task was to build her shoulder strength. "I knew we had to take her game up by a few notches, so we started giving more time to gym work and mind training," the 42-year-old said.

Next, her regular 52lbs poundage was changed to a 57lbs. "The selection of bows and arrows is critical to an archer's performance. Choosing the correct poundage depends on a number of factors, including archer's technique and strength. I figured she would be better served with a higher poundage."

"That meant she would have to pull greater weight and hold a heavier bow. So, it was imperative we trained her muscles for that."

Vennam began shooting with the heavier equipment around mid-May and quickly settled into a rhythm. Still, she didn't expect to shoot the scores she did or even win medals. "Frankly, I didn't expect these results. I was not really chasing a result but I just wanted to shoot well and leave Paris after giving my best. I didn't want to end the event with any regrets."

As the team landed in the French capital, coach Chand intensified his research, furiously working out the right arrow for his ward till the last minute. "Vennam's exit from the national camp unwittingly gave me a lot of time to think about her game. My study indicated that a heavier arrow will benefit her, so we switched to one. I was so consumed with research that I was working out arrows in my head till two days before her event," he said.

Vennam shot with a Porto 520, a slightly heavier and longer arrow from the Porto 420 that she used to shoot with earlier. The heavier arrow provides better wind resistance and travels faster, allowing a better chance to hit the target in windy conditions.

"The flip side is that it needs greater force to pull and a tighter grip, but the pros far outweigh these concerns. Plus, we had prepared her body to take the strain," he said.

Vennam has finally laid her ghosts to rest in Paris. That fateful March day is now fading in her rear view, she recounts that phase with typical wistful wisdom. "Failure definitely made me more mature. I learned to look things in perspective, I became more accepting of the situations, and I became more determined."

The next target for Chand and Vennam are the quadrennial World Games in Birmingham, USA, starting July 7. Vennam has been named in the 32-member squad (16 men and 16 women), and Chand expects her to become the first Indian archer to finish on the World Games podium.

"It's like Olympics for non-Olympic disciplines, so you can imagine its importance. It is perhaps the only medal missing from her cabinet," the coach said. A fresh and hungrier Vennam would like to correct that anomaly.

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