Shooter Vinh to hunt Olympic medal in 25m pistol event

The Vietnamese shooter demonstrated outstanding performance in both two part of the tournament which gathers 40 world strongest markswomen.

She scored 290 points in the Precision part, in which each shooter fired 30 shots in three series, and placed No 12.

After several minutes rest for the second Rapid fire part, Vinh did even better job. She fired 297 points including 27 10-point shots.

With a total of 587 points, an average of 9.783 points each shot, she secured No 4 standing and qualified for the medal stage.

"It is her highest result scored at an international competition. What's a wonderful shooting!" said former national head coach Nguyen Thi Nhung.

"In the final athletes will compete in the Rapid fire part. They will have from 3.7 to 7 seconds to aim and 3 seconds to make the shot. With a shot of 10.2 point and above shooter will score one hit.

"It is a particularly difficult challenge as it requires quick reflexes and consistent accuracy under time pressure. Here, athletes can shot many 10 points but no hit counted."

Nhung who guided former shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh to win Viet Nam's first Olympic gold at the Rio Games in 2016, believed in Thu Vinh's medal potential.

She said despite the tough competition people should trust Vinh and strongly encourage her.

In the final which will be held late August 3, Vinh will be against seven rivals including top three of the qualification round: Veronika Major of Hungary (592 points), Manu Bhaker of India (590 points) and Haniyeh Rostamiyan of Iran (588 points).

Athletes must demonstrate speed and accuracy in this stage where the scoring resets. The competition consists of an elimination format where shooters are gradually eliminated after a series of shots until the top two competitors face off for the gold and silver medals.

After six days of official competitions, almost of half Vietnamese athletes have been out of the Games but they made remarkable performance, overcoming their limit and set personal best.

Rower Pham Thi Hue finished No 23 in the women's singles sculls event on August 2. Her time of 7min 47.84sec was the best achievement in career. At age 34, Hue is the oldest athlete of Viet Nam in the Paris 2024.

The youngest, runner Tran Thi Nhi Yen also wrapped up her tournament in the women's 100m event.

The teenager made a milestone as she was the first Vietnamese winning a heat run at an Olympics. Yen left all other rival behind to top the preliminary round's Heat 2 in a time of 11.81sec.

However, an hour and a half later, she failed to be in top three of the Round 1 although she ran 0.02sec faster.

Another teenager Vo Thi My Tien was beaten in the women's 200m individual medley event.

Tien finishes fourth in the second qualification heat in a time of 2min 17.18sec which places her at No 27 among 33 swimmers. Meanwhile only top 16 can advance to the semi-finals.

On August 1, archers Le Quoc Phong and Do Thi Anh Nguyet failed in their individual competitions.

Phong lost 0-6 to Dan Olaru of Moldova in the men's class while Nguyet was defeated 5-6 by Mobina Fallah of Iran after a shoot-off round.

The duo previously finished at No 24 in the mixed pair event.

In badminton, both two representatives of Viet Nam -- Le Duc Phat and Nguyen Thuy Linh – recorded one win and one loss in their categories and were stopped in Paris.

Suffering same destiny were boxers Vo Thi Kim Anh and Ha Thi Linh; judoka Hoang Thi Tinh and rifle shooter Le Thi Mong Tuyen.

Viet Nam still have medal hopes in cycling with former Asian champion Nguyen Thi That competing in the women's road race on August 4 and weightlifter Trinh Van Vinh, former world champion, taking part in the men's 61kg category on August 7.

Currently, China takes lead in the medal tally with 13 golds, nine silvers and nine bronzes.

Host France comes second with 11 golds, 12 silvers and 13 bronzes, followed by Australia with 11 golds, 6 silvers and 5 bronzes./.