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At the World Archery Championships 2023 in Berlin, Germany, on Friday, the Indian women's compound team consisting of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Parneet Kaur, and Aditi Gopichand Swami took home the gold medal. It was India's first-ever gold medal in any category at the global archery championships.
In the championship, the women's team defeated Mexico 235-229. They had earlier eliminated Colombia, the reigning champions in the semifinal. With this historic victory, India has won its first gold in any category in the global championship. India has so far won 11 medals in 92 years since the WAC began, consisting of nine silver and two bronze, but no gold.
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After getting a bye in the first round, the Indian women's compound team earlier defeated Turkish Taipei and Turkey in the quarterfinals and pre quarterfinals, respectively.
"This feels wonderful because this was the first gold medal for the country. Hope there are more medals in archery in future," expressed Jyothi Surekha Vennam, who has won six medals in the WAC before this, but this was her first gold at the event.
Jyoti Surekha Vennam was born on July 3, 1996, in Vijayawada. She holds the 12th-best overall ranking and has been honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2017. At the recent Archery World Cup in Columbia, 16-year-old Aditi shattered the under-18 world record in the compound women's division. She surpassed the previous world record of 705 points and earned a total of 711 points out of a possible 720. Patiala's Parneet Kaur's father Avtar is a government teacher in Sanur, who encouraged Parneet to take up sports as a hobby.
To maintain their chances of winning medals, all three women archers - Jyothi, Parneet Kaur, and Aditi Gopichand Swami—have advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective individual rounds and will play their individual knockout matches on Saturday and Sunday.
