Report: Disappointed with Khel Ratna snub, Archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam threatens to move court

Jyothi Surekha Vennam clinched three gold medals at Asian Games 2023.

World no. 1 women’s compound archer in singles Jyothi Surekha Vennam wasn’t nominated for country’s highest sporting honour – Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award this year. Only the men’s doubles badminton pair of Satwik-Chirag have been nominated for the award with 18 other sportspersons for Arjuna Awards.

The ace archer won three gold medals in the recently concluded Hangzhou Asian Games and has a gold and silver medal each at world championships this year. Apart from this, the athlete stood out in World Cup events alongside the Asian Championships by winning several medals both in the individual and mixed category.

In an interaction with TOI the athlete expressed her disappointment and said, “I have a total of 148.74 points which is highest among all the applicants and much more than what have been awarded to Satwik and Chirag. All the achievements have come in the four-year awards cycle.”

She further added, “I am deeply disappointed and disheartened over the snub. I believe my achievements speak for me. I want to know the reasons from the sports ministry, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the awards selection committee as to why my name wasn’t considered for the Khel Ratna despite logging the highest points.”

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Points distribution for Khel Ratna award

Event	Medal
	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Olympic Games/Paralympic Games	80	70	55
World Championship/World Cup	40	30	20
Asian Games	30	25	20
Commonwealth Games	25	20	15

The medals won in various International championships including Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympics Games, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games are given 80% weightage. The remaining 20% weightage is given to the profile and standard of the events.

Furthermore, Jyothi Surekha Vennam threatened to approach court if she wasn’t given reasons for the snub. She iterated, First of all, I want to know why name wasn’t considered before approaching the court.”

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