Shooters bring home medals from Asian championship

Shooting

Việt Nam trio Hà Minh Thành, Vũ Tiến Nam and Phan Xuân Chuyên pose with their silver medals from the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship 2024 men’s 25m standard pistol team event. Photo courtesy of VSF

HÀ NỘI — The national shooting team brought home one gold, two silvers and one Olympic place from the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship 2024 in Indonesia on January 15.

The tournament continues until January 18 but the Vietnamese athletes have completed their competitions.

In their last events over the weekend, they took two silvers in the men’s 25m standard pistol team event.

Trio Hà Minh Thành, Phan Xuân Chuyên and Vũ Tiến Nam shot 1,679 points for second place. 

They were behind India which earned 1,690 points. The host marksmen placed third with 1,666 points.

Earlier, they also stood second in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol team event.

They had 1,722 points, 14 points behind South Korea which took top position. Indonesia won bronze with 1,718 points.

Despite their silvers, the team did not qualify for the Paris Olympics because the 25m standard pistol and the 25m rapid fire pistol team events will not be organised.

The only gold medal went to duo Phạm Quang Huy and Trịnh Thu Vinh in the 10m air pistol mixed team.

Meanwhile the Olympic spot was earned by shooter Lê Thị Mộng Tuyền in the women’s 10m air rifle.

“We appreciate the athletes’ efforts and achievements at the Asian championship, which saw outstanding performance from all rivals. We were really focused in this event,” said Vũ Anh Đào, manager of the team.

Athletes will continue practising for the national championship in early April and the next Olympic qualification which will be organised in Brazil from April 11-19.

“We will review our performance and technique, and will pick suitable shooters for the Brazilian tournament.”

After that, the team will take part in the International Shooting Sport Federation’s World Cup in Azerbaijan in May. It is an opportunity for Vinh and Tuyền, who qualified for the Paris Games, to sharpen their skills.

Việt Nam is the only Southeast Asian country having won Olympic shooting medals. Hoàng Xuân Vinh secured one gold and one silver at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. VNS