'What Is In Our Hands Is How We Perform' Jyothi Surekha Vennam Decodes Pressure And Expectation Amid Growing Success

At 30, Jyothi Surekha Vennam has added another gold to a career that keeps growing. Alongside Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep, she won the women's compound team title at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, beating China 238-234 in a final that equalled the world record.

The road to the final tested the team. India qualified second behind China, then edged South Korea 235-233 in a semifinal that stayed level until the closing arrows. India led 205-204 with one set to go before finishing the job. In the final, India dropped only two points out of 240. Jyothi, the most experienced of the trio, anchored a team with a combined age far below her own career length.

It is a familiar role for her. Born on 3 July 1996 in Challapalli, Andhra Pradesh, Jyothi started as a national-level swimmer before switching to archery. She made her senior international debut in 2011 and now trains at SAI Sonipat. She won silver in the team event at the 2018 Asian Games. Then came Hangzhou 2023, where she won the individual, team and mixed team golds, the first Indian archer to win three golds at a single Games. That makes this her fourth Asian Games gold.

Her record beyond the Games is equally strong. She is a world champion in the team event (2023), with four World Championship silvers and three bronzes. She has 11 Archery World Cup stage golds, seven Asian Outdoor Championships golds, a World Games team bronze and the 2017 Arjuna Award.

A Trick To Deal Expectations

Yet her approach to pressure is what stands out. Asked how she deals with the expectations that come with being a standout performer, and with fans' reactions when results go against her, she has said everyone goes into a tournament with expectations, including the athletes themselves.

"I think everyone has expectations when we go into a tournament, including ourselves. We go there thinking that we will perform well, and obviously, our aim is to win a medal.

But sometimes, the conditions are not favourable. I don't think that is the end, because it's not just one tournament. There are always other tournaments as well. If we keep thinking about what we didn't achieve, then we can't move forward."

She added that dwelling on what went wrong stops an athlete from moving forward. Her focus is on learning from each event, accepting that conditions can be out of anyone's control, and giving 100 per cent every time.

"I think there is something we can learn from every tournament. Sometimes there are conditions that we cannot do anything about. We can give our best, but the result may still not be what we wanted. If we get upset about that and stop thinking about it, I don't think that will help.

I can say that I am really fortunate and lucky because I have tried to perform well in all the major tournaments, and hopefully, I have been able to win a medal. So I feel really fortunate in that way.

I will always try my best, no matter what tournament I go to, to give 100 per cent. The rest, including the medals, depends on what happens on that particular day. How the opponent performs is not in our hands.

What is in our hands is how we perform and whether we are giving our best or not." She signed off.