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On the back of a blazing performance at the World Championship, Jyothi Surekha now has her heart set on the Asian Games gold.
The Indian archery squad won 4 medals at the Berlin World Championships, out of which Surekha took two. One was a gold in the women's team compound category alongside teammates Aditi Swami and Parmeet Kaur, and one was a bronze in the women's compound.
Speaking to The Hindu on what this achievement meant to the archer, she said,
"The World Championship gold is a huge morale-booster. We were challenged by the windy conditions and rain. Still, we put up our best ever performance in any Worlds. “We made it to the Worlds finals so many times. But, somehow we missed the gold. Clinching that coveted medal now is a truly special feeling."
Jyothi so far has won eight medals at the World Championships, but a gold is a first for her. Now the ace has her eyes locked in on the gold at the Asian Games in September.
"The Asian Games gold is my biggest target now. I want to keep giving my best and continue this form. It is never going to be easy in the Asiad as there will be some world-class archers from countries like Chinese Taipei and Korea. We have to be on our toes to repeat what we achieved in the Worlds."
Other than competition from countries like Chinese Taipei and Korea, Surekha is well aware of the Indian juniors who could give her a run for her money.
"The youngsters are doing so well that there is an ‘invisible’ fight amongst ourselves to scale the summit. For example, the performance of the 17-year-old Aditi Swami was superb. She won India’s first ever individual gold in the compound bow category. She started competing in the seniors grade this year and came up with such a stunning show. It is so good for Indian archery."
Nevertheless, Jyothi Surekha is targeting the coveted first step on the podium for Hangzhou, and there will be an entire country cheering her on.
The history of Indian Archery at the Asian Games
Indian archers have so far had a pretty impressive run at the Asian Games. India stands fifth in the overall archery medal tally at the games, behind Korea, Japan, China, and Chinese Taipei.
However, out of India's 10 medals at the games, only one has been a gold so far. This gold came at the 2014 Incheon games, when Rajat Chauhan, Sandeep Kumar, Abhishek Verma won the team compound event.
Of the other nine medals India has won at the Asian Games, four are silvers and the rest are bronze.
