Vietnamese gymnast earns place in world championship

Luong finished 14th in the men’s all-round event with 79.097 points after six apparatus on Thursday at the OCBC Arena.

Japanese Oka Shinnosuke took gold with 86.065 points, followed by Filipino Carlos Yulo (86.930 points) and Kitazono Takeru of Japan (85.431 points).

The top 24 gymnasts, with a maximum of two per country, will qualify for the all-around finals.

Van Vi Luong poses with the Vietnam’s national flag. Photo courtesy of Van Vi Luong

Luong was one of six athletes who secured world tickets from this tournament.

The World Gymnastics Championships, between September 30 to October 8 in Belgium, is also the first opportunity for nations to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The top three highest-ranked teams in the team final will automatically qualify a full team of five gymnasts to the Games.

“First step is done. Will continue to arrive the global largest sport – Olympic Paris 2024,” Luong posted on his Facebook.

In another event, Nguyen Phuoc Hai had 13.933 points for No. 9 place and qualified for the finals of the men’s individual parallel bars.

In men’s rings, Nguyen Van Khanh Phong placed fourth in the qualification with 14.133 points and was confirmed a berth in the finals.

Vietnam will send a squad of five men and four women to the Singapore competition. The championship will conclude on June 18.