Marksman Phạm Quang Huy celebrates winning gold at the ASIAD in China on Thursday. Photo vietnamnet.vn

Asian Games

HÀ NỘI — Marksman Phạm Quang Huy has made Vietnamese history as the first marksman to win an ASIAD gold medal.

Previously, Vietnamese shooting had only won five silver medals and 15 bronze medals at ASIAD.

Huy, who was born in 1996, defeated many strong opponents from South Korea and China to take Việt Nam's first gold medal at the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD) in China on Thursday.

Huy achieved an impressive score of 240.5 points in the men's 10m individual air pistol final, securing the top position and claiming gold. Lee Wonho of South Korea took silver with 239.4 points, while Vladimir Svechnikov of Uzbekistan earned bronze with 219.9 points.

"I'm very happy. My parents are former shooters, so from an early age, I was familiar with shooting," Huy said.

"I really wanted that one day when I grew up, I would be able to repeat what my parents had achieved,"

Huy is currently under the guidance of coach Hoàng Xuân Vinh, who won a gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol and a silver medal in the 50m pistol at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Vinh's gold medal was historic as it marked the first Olympic gold medal ever won by a Vietnamese athlete.

 “I have also been involved in coaching Huy for a short time. In my assessment, every athlete has the accumulated inheritance of the previous generation," Vinh said.

"I was also an athlete who came out of competition and coaching. I also inherited the achievements and experiences of my predecessors. The coaching staff and expert Park Chung-gun are still doing a good job of training so that the marksmen are prepared well to compete in important events.

“Truly, this is a very difficult result to achieve. At the ASIAD, some events have the participation of world-class Asian players and their competition is no different from the world tournament. Therefore, I see that at the continental or world level, we always need different outstanding efforts.

"This is the first gold medal for Vietnamese shooting at the ASIAD. We always want to give our athletes enthusiasm and confidence to step into the bigger tournament.”

In another notable achievement, the Vietnamese team consisting of Lại Công Minh, Phan Công Minh, and Phạm Quang Huy secured the bronze medal in the men's team's 10m air pistol event.

Adding to the Vietnamese success, the wushu team also contributed by winning two bronze medals in the combat categories.

Nguyễn Thị Thu Thuỷ secured the women's 60kg bronze medal, while Hứa Văn Đoàn earned the men's 56kg bronze medal. VNS