On March 16, the Vietnamese shooting team flew to India to attend the World Shooting Cup, which was the last chance for the Vietnamese shooters to get cards to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The International Shooting Sport Federation tournament is being held from March 18-29 in New Delhi.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese shooting team only included South Korean coach Park Chung Gun and three marksmen: Tran Quoc Cuong, Nguyen Dinh Thanh, and Phan Xuan Chuyen.

On March 20, all three Vietnamese athletes played unsuccessfully. The biggest hope, Quoc Cuong, world No 17, needed to improve his ranking by one spot to qualify for the Tokyo Games. He scored 569 points but he needed 576 points to reach the final.

Quoc Cuong was ranked 16th while Dinh Thanh stood at 13th with 573 points, and Xuan Chuyen 20th with 567 points in the men’s 10m air pistol category.

Although they did not get a card to the Olympic, their effort is worth noting because the pandemic greatly affected their practice and competition.

At the previous Olympic Games more than four years ago, the Vietnam shooting team made a resounding victory in the 70-year history of Vietnamese sports by winning one gold medal, one silver medal, and making a new Olympic record.

Vietnamese athletes will have to wait 10 days for a flight back home. The shooters will have to be quarantined for two weeks upon their return before resuming normal activity.

Bang Lang

Marksman Tran Quoc Cuong shoots for Olympic slot in India

Marksman Tran Quoc Cuong is aiming for an Olympic berth in shooting at the World Cup tournament in India.