Shooting

Phan Xuân Chuyên (left) and teammates receive bronze medals for the men's 25m centre fire pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championship on November 1 in South Korea. Photo asch2023

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese marksmen win silver medals at the Asian Shooting Championship which closed on November 2 in Changwon, South Korea.

Phan Xuân Chuyên finished second in the men's individual 25m central fire pistol event with 582 points in the final round on November 1.

He was behind Song Jong-Ho of the hosts who shot 587 points. 

The third place went to Shekhawat Pradeep Singh of India who also earned 582 points.

In the team event, Chuyên and teammates Hà Minh Thành and Vũ Tiến Nam secured 1,730 points to earn a bronze medal.

South Korea came first with 1,743 points, followed by India with 1,737 points.

Earlier, the Việt Nam team also won silvers in the women's individual 10m running target rifle event by Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng, and the women's team event by Hằng, Lê Thảo Ngọc and Dương Thị Trang.

Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng in action during the women's individual 10m running target rifle event.

Nguyễn Tuấn Anh took bronze in the men's individual running target. He was grouped with Ngô Hữu Vương and Nguyễn Công Dậu, finishing third in the men's team category.

The Vietnamese side collected three silvers and five bronzes in total from the South Korean championship.

This is the highest number of medals Việt Nam has won at a continental championship. However, they did not secure any Olympic berths as expected.

The best results of three silvers in 25m central fire pistol and 10m running target rifle were unfortunately not included in the Paris Olympics' schedule.

Athletes will prepare for the national championship later this month.

In other shooting news, the Việt Nam Shooting Federation has extended their contract with South Korean expert Park Chung Gun till August 21, 2024.

South Korean Park Chung Gun takes charge of the national shooting team which is expected to qualify and medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo of VSF

Park will be head coach of the national team and receive a salary of US$6,000 per month.

He takes the responsibility of helping Việt Nam have two more athletes qualify for the Paris Olympics. At the next summer Games, Việt Nam is expected to have medals.

To date, Việt Nam has only Trịnh Thu Vinh having qualified after she finished fifth in the women's 10m air pistol event at the world championship in August.

Park first met with Vietnamese athletes in 2006 when the national team had a training course in South Korea.

He officially worked in Việt Nam as a shooting expert in 2014. He helped marksmen Hoàng Xuân Vinh and Trần Quốc Cường secure their places at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in which Vinh made history, winning one gold and one silver.

Vinh was also one of his athletes and most recently Phạm Quang Huy took gold from the Asian Games last month China. VNS