In a fantastic final, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Deotale prevailed over Korea to win India the mixed archery gold medal. Rohan Chowdhury caught up with them soon after. Enjoy this candid conversation.
Rohan- First thoughts on this victory and how were the conditions?
Jyothi: Conditions were good and we had in our minds to give our best and we did that and bagged the gold. We are absolutely delighted to win the first gold in archery in these Games.
Rohan- Ojas this was your first Asian Games. How special was it to win the gold and did you have any pressure given this was your Games debut?
Ojas- Yes it was special because it is my first Asian Games and didi (Jyothi) and the other seniors have helped me a lot to gain in confidence. They helped me to control my nervousness. And we were confident that we could clinch the top medal.
Rohan- Jyothi, as a senior player in the team do you have any extra pressure?
Jyothi- No I don’t take it that way because it will increase the pressure on me and it won’t help me in my game. I just try to focus on my game and I’m happy that I could do that today to help win this medal.
Rohan- Talk about the team chemistry.
Ojas: Didi and I are contrasting personalities. I’m a jolly and talkative person and Didi is quiet and calm. She helps me to stay calm and maintain my focus. Whenever I’m in any stress she guides me to get back on track, and this chemistry helps me a lot to perform better.
Rohan- Jyothi: Is he a talkative person in between the game also? (Laughs)
Jyothi: No! In the game he is a focused person and knows what to do.
Rohan- Beating Korea must be special. How was the competition today you think?
Jyothi- We didn’t keep Korea in mind. We had faith in ourselves. Yes it was windy but we tackled it well and made it.
Rohan- Jyothi we are the favourites in the compound event. Talk to us about recurve. What can we expect from that event?
Jyothi- Yes we expect to win medals in recurve also. We have a good team and we know we’ll do good.
Photo by Rohan Chowdhury
Rohan- How would you celebrate?
Well! We do have some events left and we need to stay focused. We’ll celebrate after that!