Can Jyothi make it 3-in-3?

Jyothi Surekha Vennam, 27, somehow doesn't get enough credit for her achievements. Blame it on compound archery not being part of the Olympic family, but to win two gold medals in 24 hours is an extraordinary feat.

On Thursday, just 24 hours after winning the compound mixed team gold with partner Ojas Deotale, beating South Korea's Chaewon So and Jaehoon Joo with a Games record score (159-158), Vennam doubled her gold medal tally, winning the women's team gold alongside Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur, beating Chinese Taipei 230-229.

Also Read: Asian Games 2023: ‘Nervous nineties is as good as century'

Archers Jyothi Surekha Vennam (left), Parneet Kaur, Aditi Swami, Ojas Pravin Deotale, Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar and Abhishek Verma with their compound team gold medals yesterday. Pic/PTI

The men's team comprising, Deotale, Abhishek Verma and Prathamesh Jawkar also won the compound team gold, shocking South Korean top seeds Jaehoon Joo, Jaewon Yang and Kim Jongho 235-230 to make it a golden double for archery on the day.

Interestingly, Vennam can go one mighty step further and become the only Indian athlete at these Games to clinch a hat-trick of gold medals when she competes in the individual gold medal match against Korea's Chaewon So on Saturday. "I'm looking forward to my individual final because it will be a good match. Fingers crossed, I want to win my third gold," said Vennam.

This is the third gold medal this season for the Indian women's compound team, having won gold at the World Cup and the World Championships previously, so these girls know each other too well. Teenagers Swami, 17, and Kaur, 18, were grateful to their senior teammate Jyothi for guiding them to this gold. "Jyothi didi kept telling us about the wind direction and egging us on to shoot well, so that helped," said Swami. "Jyothi kept saying that we should shoot every shot like it's our last shot," said Swami.

On Saturday, it will be their turn to cheer for Jyothi as she trains her bow for a shot at history.