Indian compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam marked her return to the national side in impressive fashion with a second place finish in the qualification round of the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Paris on Tuesday.
Jyothi was close to her best as she shot a superb 705 to finish second behind Ella Gibson of Great Britain. The 25-year-old’s performance helped the Indian women’s team secure third position, while the mixed team also got the same seeding.
Former Asian Games gold medallist Abhishek Verma, who has been in good form on the circuit this season, delivered the best performance by an Indian in the men’s qualification round on Tuesday, finishing sixth in the qualification as the men’s team got fourth seeding.
Jyothi, a world Championship sliver medallist, hadn’t made the Indian team for the Asian Games, as well as the first couple of stages of the World Cup circuit, and was missing from international competition for over seven months.
She returned to the national side after the Archery Association of India conducted fresh trials for the World Cup Stage 3 following the postponement of the Asian Games.
On Wednesday, world No 3 Deepika Kumari will begin her campaign in the recurve qualification round. Deepika too is making an international comeback after the Tokyo Olympics last year.
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