Jyothi SurekhaVennam (born 3 July 1996) is an Indian compound archer. She has won gold medals at the World Championships, World Cup, Asian Games, and Asian Championships. In 2025, she and Rishabh Yadav set the mixed team world record at the 2025 Archery World Cup.
Surekha was born in Challapalli in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh to Vennam Surendra Kumar and Sri Durga. [2] [3] [4] Her father is a former kabaddi player and a veterinary doctor in Vijayawada. [5] She started swimming at the age of three and in 2001, she swam 5 km (3.1 mi) across the Krishna River in three hours, 20 minutes and six seconds and became the youngest to enter the Limca Book of Records . [4] [6] She completed her schooling from Nalanda Vidya Niketan, Vijayawada, and did her B.Tech. and MBA from Koneru Lakshmaiah University. [5]
Surekha started practicing archery from the age of 11, participating in various tournaments at the junior level. [3] In 2011, she won a bronze medal at the 2011 Asian Archery Championships held in Tehran, Iran. [7] In 2013, She won two bronze medals at the 2013 World Archery Youth Championships held at Wuxi, China. [8] [9] She had competed in five Asian Archery Championships winning four gold, four silver and two bronze medals. She have also competed in multiple Archery World Cups winning five gold, four silver and seven bronze medals. [3]
Surekha won three silver medals in the 2021 World Archery Championships becoming the first Indian to do so and has won one gold, four silver and three bronze medals in the World Archery Championships. [10] [3] In January 2022, she finished in first place in the Women's Open Pro event at the Lancaster Archery Classic held near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. [11] In 2023, Jyoti won three gold medals in the 2022 Asian Games becoming the first Indian to win multiple gold medals in archery. [12]
In 2025, Surekha and Rishabh Yadav set the mixed team world record with a score of 1431 at the 2025 Archery World Cup. [13] At the 2026 Asian Games, she won the gold medal in the women's team compound event. [14]
In 2017, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu awarded her a cash prize of ₹10 million (US$100,000) and a 500 ft2 (46 m2) housing plot. [18]
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