Jyothi Surekha Vennam Clinches Historic Bronze at Archery World Cup Final
Becomes first Indian woman compound archer to win individual medal at season finale; Rishabh Yadav finishes fourth in men’s event
Jyothi Surekha Vennam made history today by becoming the first Indian woman compound archer to win an individual medal at the Archery World Cup Final, claiming bronze at the 2025 edition here.
The 29-year-old sealed the podium finish with a commanding 150-145 victory over Great Britain’s world No. 2 Ella Gibson in the bronze medal match. Jyothi, seeded third in the tournament, had earlier defeated USA’s Alexis Ruiz 143-140 in the quarterfinals before narrowly losing to Mexico’s world No. 1 Andrea Becerra 145-143 in the semifinals. She had led 87-86 after the third round but was overtaken in the final stages.
This historic achievement also makes her the only Indian woman compound archer to have ever medalled at the season-ending World Cup event, having previously won silver in the mixed team event with Abhishek Verma in 2018. Jyothi had competed in individual events at the 2022 and 2023 World Cup Finals but exited in the opening rounds, making this bronze a landmark milestone in her career.
Meanwhile, Jyothi’s compatriot Madhura Dhamangaonkar, the surprise gold medallist from the Shanghai leg of the 2025 Archery World Cup series, bowed out in the quarterfinals after losing to Mexico’s Mariana Bernal, who went on to defeat Andrea Becerra in an all-Mexican final to claim the gold medal in Nanjing.
In the men’s individual compound draw, India’s Rishabh Yadav narrowly missed out on a podium finish after losing the bronze medal match to world No. 2 Mike Schloesser of the Netherlands in a shoot-off. After both archers finished tied at 147 points following five rounds, the Dutchman’s arrow, closer to the centre, secured him the medal. Rishabh had previously edged past Kim Jongho of the Republic of Korea 144-143 in the quarterfinals before losing 148-144 to Denmark’s world No. 1 Mathias Fullerton in the semifinals.
The Archery World Cup Final 2025 concludes on Sunday with the recurve events. No Indian recurve archers, including Olympian and last year’s silver medallist Deepika Kumari, managed to qualify this year.
All archers at the World Cup Final earned their spots either by winning one of the four World Cup stages in Auburndale, Shanghai, Antalya, and Madrid or through their World Cup rankings. Madhura qualified via her Shanghai gold, while Jyothi and Rishabh secured their places through rankings.