Vinh brings Vietnam second medal in Rio Olympics

10:08, 11/08/2016

Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh on August 10 won the second medal for Vietnam at the ongoing Rio Olympics in Brazil, coming second in the men's 50-metre pistol shooting event. 

Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh on August 10 won the second medal for Vietnam at the ongoing Rio Olympics in Brazil, coming second in the men’s 50-metre pistol shooting event. 

With the achievement, Vinh made history as the first ever Vietnamese athlete to win one gold and one silver medal at the Olympic Games. 

Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh (left) on August 10 won the second medal for Vietnam at the ongoing Rio Olympics in Brazil. (Photo: EPA/VNA)
Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh (left) on August 10 won the second medal for Vietnam at the ongoing Rio Olympics in Brazil. (Photo: EPA/VNA)

In the qualifying round, the 41-year-old army colonel scored low in his first shooting series and even ranked outside the Top 20. At the final series, he made a comeback with two final shots scoring 10 which brought his total score up to 556 points. 

He ranked 6 th out of 41 and passed through to the final round. 

Vinh started with a steadier hand in the final round, remaining the lead in his first shooting series. However, he only scored 8.5 and 8.2 points in the two final shots, 2.4 points lower than Jin’s. 

In total, Vinh scored 191.3 points in 20 shots while his competitor, Jin Jong-oh, from the Republic of Korea earned 193.7 points to win gold. Kim Song Guk of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea finished third with 172.8 points. 

On August 7, Vinh grabbed the first Olympic gold medal for Vietnam, winning the men’s 10m air pistol event. 

Meanwhile, fencers Do Thi Anh and Vu Thanh An were eliminated despite their good start the same day. 

An beat Ochiuzzi, who won two medals at the 2012 Olympics and a gold at the 2015 World Fencing Championships, 15-12 in the men’s individual sabre event but later lost 8-15 to French fencer Vincent Anstett. 

Anh, who is world No.144, was defeated 9-15 by 2012 Olympic silver medalist Arianna Errigo of Italy in the women’s foil event. 

Previously, other Vietnamese fencers Nguyen Thi Nhu Hoa and Nguyen Thi Le Dung lost in their first match at the women’s epee and the women’s sabre events.

(Source:VNA)