On Saturday, October 18, 2025, Indian archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam created history after becoming the first player to win a medal at the Nanjing 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final. The reigning Asian Games champion defeated Ella Gibson, world No. 2 from Great Britain, in the women’s compound individual. She shot 15 perfect arrows, outclassing Gibson and finishing with a lead of 150-145.
Making her third appearance of the tournament, Surekha previously competed at the 2022 edition in Tlaxcala and 2023 in Hermosillo, in which she exited in the opening round. This time it ended with success by claiming her maiden title of the tournament.
Mexico’s Mariana Bernal and Andrea Becerra won the gold and silver medals, respectively, in the compound women’s event. The individual finals event of recurve women will be held on October 19, 2025.
The 29-year-old archer started off strong with a 143-140 win over the United States’ Alexis Ruiz in the quarterfinals match. But Surekha fell down by a narrow point to get into the top two after suffering a setback from world No. 1 Andrea Becerra of Mexico by 143-145 in the semi-finals match.
Surekha, with eight World Archery Championships medals, is one of the most decorated archers of India. At the 2013 World Archery Youth Championships in China, she won the mixed team bronze, and she won a mixed silver at the 2015 World University Games in Korea. She made her international debut as a senior archer and won the team bronze at the Asian Championships held in 2015.
She is the first Indian archer to win three silver medals in the 2021 World Archery Championships held in the USA. The following year she created history by becoming the first player from India to win gold medals in the individual, mixed team, and team events at the 2022 Asian Games held in China.
A year later, Surekha was honored as the 2023 ESPN Indian Female Athlete of the Year for her contributions and achievements to Indian archery.
Other Indian players at the World Cup
Another Indian qualifier in the women’s compound event was Madhura Dhamangaonkar, who suffered an opening-round exit from Mexico’s Mariana Bernal, losing by 142-145.
In the men’s compound, Rishabh Yadav is the lone Indian in contention and will open his campaign against South Korea’s Kim Jongho later in the day.
