24th April 2023: Jyothi Surekha Vennam bags the solo compound event in a momentous win and earns her second gold. Recurve, Compound, Barebow, Crossbow....a brief on types of bows.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam, a former world championship silver medalist, won the individual gold medal in the women's compound event of the Archery World Cup Stage 1 in Antalya, Turkey, on Saturday with her flawless and precise shooting skills
The World Archery Federation began hosting the Archery World Cup in 2006, in which archers compete in four stages across four nations, with the top eight competitors from each category moving on to the final round.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam defeated Tanja Gellenthien of Denmark in the quarterfinals to go to the semifinals.
When Jyothi and her debutant partner Ojas Deotale had previously defeated Chinese Taipei 159-154 in the mixed compound team final to start India's day with gold, they came just short of setting a world record.
The 20-year-old Deotale only missed the centre once, when he shot a 9 in the last end, while Jyothi had all flawless 10s with her eight arrows. The Indian team was only one point short of the world record score of 160/160.
In the championship match, Jyothi Surekha Vennam defeated Colombia's Sara Lopez 149-146 for first place. The victory restored Jyothi's reputation after her 144-146 loss to Colombia in the Yankton World Championship 2021 final. To get to the final, she triumphed over Britain's Ella Gibson, the top-ranked player in the world, 148-146.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam beat Switzerland's Myriam Hasler in the preliminary round, advancing her to the solo final. She then defeated Ana Sofa Hernandez Jeon of Mexico and Danelle Lutz of the United States in the second and third rounds, respectively.
The Indian team defeated Malaysia's Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh and Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki 157-154 in the semifinals to win the compound mixed team gold medal.
On Sunday, India has a chance to take home the third gold medal of the competition. The Chinese three of Li Zhongyuan, Wei Shaoxuan, and Qi Xiangshuo will compete against the Indian men's recurve team of Atanu Das, Dhiraj Bommadevara, and Tarundeep Rai for the gold medal.
The semi-finals of the men's recurve individual event will also include Dhiraj Bommadevara.
You must be wondering what Compound Archery is exactly.
A brief on Archery bows for the uninitiated:
There are 3 main kind of bows as defined by the Olympic Committee:
- Recurve
- Compound
- Crossbow
There are further variations bit here we will only explain briefly the main types of bows used in Archery competitions.
Recurve: is the only type of bow used for Olympics.
A recurve archer pulls the string towards their face with their fingers and aims at the target through a sight. The arrow is then released downrange towards the target.
The bit where the bow is held is called the riser, off which limbs (or the arcs) of the bow extend. The bowstrings are wrapped at the end of each limb.
An adjustable sight, a rod-like object to which a ‘sight pin’ – which helps archers view the target - is set up, is also attached to the riser.
Archers use long and short rods to stabilise the bow, which helps in windy conditions or keeping the bow steady when the arrow is released. To protect themselves from the string, archers wear finger tabs and arm-guards to protect the forearm from rubbing the bowstring.
In a recurve event, archers shoot over a distance of 70 metres at a target face which has a diameter of 122cm with the innermost 10-point ring measuring 12.2cm in diameter.
Compound Bows:
are some of the strongest, fastest, most accurate bows used in competitions. They are similar to a recurve bow except it employs a system of pulleys (also called cams) and cables that makes drawing the bow easier and saving the Archer's energy for the shot. Thus making archery less physical, allows more accuracy and power from a greater distance.
A compound archer also views his target through a scope with a magnifying lens in addition to a sight pin. A compound competition is held in World Archery Championships and Archery World Cup but not in the Olympics.
The target in a compound event is set at 50 metres. The target face is 80cm in diameter with the innermost 10-point ring 8cm in diameter.
Compound archers are allowed to use a release aid, while recurve archers are not. A release aid is a device that helps to fire arrows more precisely, by using a trigger to release the bowstring, rather than the archer’s fingers.
Barebow:
A barebow, as the name suggests, is the most primitive form of bow in archery, with archers allowed no stabilisers or sight pins to shoot at their targets.
An archer shooting a barebow pulls the string back to their face using their fingers, aims by looking down the length of the arrow and, upon release, the energy stored in the bent limbs transfers through the string and into the arrow, sending it downrange to the target.
Barebow was included on the programme of the first World Archery Field Championships in 1969 and has featured on the programme of the World Games since 1985. Barebow archers shoot at targets set at 50 metres, with the target face measuring 122cm in diameter.
Source: https://worldarchery.sport/sport/equipment/barebow
Image source: https://www.burtonbridgearchers.co.uk/about-archery/bow-types/
Not included in any major sporting events but we found it interesting so thought of sharing
The Crossbows:
are very different from the other bows on this list. The bow itself is positioned horizontally. It is mounted on a stock, which allows the bow to be loaded with bolts without the need to fire immediately.
The bolts used in crossbows are different from arrows. They are much shorter and heavier than arrows used with regular bows.
The advantage of a crossbow is that it offers a powerful shot without the need to hold a draw while you aim. With a crossbow, you can aim more freely and more precisely, and since you don’t need to hold the draw, crossbows don’t require as much physical strength from the archer.
Source: https://archershub.com/archery-101-the-11-types-of-archery-explained-for-beginners/