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Rio Olympic Games champion Hoang Xuan Vinh won a silver medal at the Shooting World Cup on Tuesday in New Delhi, India.
Vinh claimed the medal with a total points haul of 236.6 in the men’s 10m air pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup, second only to Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsuda who won gold with a world record score of 240.1.
The Vietnamese shooter got through a 34-man qualification round to make it into the last eight. In the final, after two rounds of shooting, three shooters remained: Vinh, Matsuda and Jitu Rai from the host India.
Jitu Rai was off target and unable to keep himself in contention for gold. Vinh managed to score 9.5 and 9.8 with his final shots, but Matsuda blasted 10.2 and 10.6 to claim the title and a new world record.
Matsuda used to be a powerhouse in Japan's shooting scene, and has a firing range named after him. However, he has been out of form since 2010 and hasn't had much success in tournaments since then.
With second place at the Shooting World Cup, 41-year-old military officer Vinh proved that he still is in top form seven months after securing Vietnam's first Olympic gold medal in Brazil last year.
"Hoang Xuan Vinh's silver medal is a success. It proves that he has been training and still has the determination after reaching the top at Rio 2016," his 52-year-old coach Nguyen Thi Nhung, told VnExpress.
However, Nhung did admit that she was surprised at her shooter's latest achievement.
"I personally hoped that Vinh would just make it through the qualifier. An athlete can't maintain his top form at every tournament," said Nhung. "After his Olympic success, failure at this event in India might have given him more motivation for the next important events."
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