NEW DELHI: India’s World No. 1 compound archer in both mixed and team events, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, has expressed deep disappointment at being ignored for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award this year, despite producing a sensational performance at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The ace badminton men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has been recommended for the Khel Ratna by a 12-member awards selection committee.
In the last six months, Surekha has won a total of 13 international medals – three gold (individual, team and mixed team) at the Asiad, a gold and silver at the World Championships, four gold and two bronze at the World Cup and a gold and silver at the Asian championships.
In the Olympic cycle period of four years starting from January 1, 2019 up to the conclusion of the Asian/Para Games 2023, which was considered for calculating the sports achievements of sportspersons, Surekha secured seven World Championships medals and three Asiad gold. She has won 53 international medals and 62 national ones, all by the age of 27.
Surekha did her own calculation to arrive at the total numbers of points earned by her as per the criteria for the Khel Ratna. “I have a total of 148.74 points which is the highest among all the applicants and much more than what have been awarded to Satwik and Chirag. From the Asiad individual gold, I earned 30 points and, from the mixed team and women’s team gold, I got 22.5 and 20 points, respectively. I earned 13.33 points from the 2023 World Championships women’s team gold and 10 points from the individual bronze secured at the same event. Then at the 2021 World Championships, I got 15 points for individual silver, 11.25 for mixed team silver and 10 for team silver. At the 2019 Worlds, I got 10 points for the individual bronze and 6.66 for the team bronze. All these achievements have come in the four-year awards cycle, and they count for a total of 148.74 points,” Surekha told TOI.
“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,” she added.
When TOI contacted the ministry and SAI officials, they refused to comment on Surekha’s omission from the list. “We wouldn’t like to comment,” a SAI’s spokesperson said. Surekha said she would be approaching the court if she wasn’t offered a proper explanation. “I have that option but that’s the last one. First of all, I want to know the reasons why my name wasn’t considered before approaching the court.”
