Vietnamese shooters fail in Olympic qualification bid

By Nam Anh   March 21, 2021 | 07:33 pm PT
Vietnamese shooters fail in Olympic qualification bid
Three Vietnamese shooters who attend the 2021 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup train with their advisor. Photo by Vietnam News Agency.
All three Vietnamese shooters have fluffed their Tokyo Olympics qualification chances at the ongoing 2021 ISSF World Cup in India.

Before the competition Tran Quoc Cuong had been ranked 17th in the world in the 10 m air pistol event, and needed to move up one place from points gained at this tournament to secure a spot in Olympics this summer.

But he arguably crumbled under pressure, crashing out in the first round with just 569 points after six shots and placing a lowly 16th.

Nguyen Dinh Thanh scored 573 and Phan Xuan Chuyen, 566.

The ISSF World Cup was the last chance for Vietnamese shooters to qualify for the Olympics.

Cuong is a veteran shooter who has competed in nine SEA Games and won dozens of medals in various categories. He has also won three Asian Games bronze medals and qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

At Rio, Hoang Xuan Vinh won Vietnam’s first ever Olympic gold medal by topping the 10 m air pistol category. He went on to win a silver medal in the 50 m pistol three positions event.

But at 46 he decided to withdraw from the national team this year and did not attempt Olympic qualification.

 
 
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