Thank you, Trinh Thu Vinh!

Regardless of the outcome of the 25m sport pistol final this afternoon, August 3rd (2:30 PM, Vietnam time), Trinh Thu Vinh still deserves a thank you from many Vietnamese fans.

The hope for a medal for the Vietnamese delegation rests on the shoulders of Thu Vinh - Photo: Reuters

Graphics: AN BINH

The 24-year-old shooter excelled in the qualifying round of the aforementioned event, finishing in 4th place – a result that allows her to dream of a medal.

The "Qualifier Queen" level

The 25m sport pistol is not Thu Vinh's strongest event. At last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, Thu Vinh ranked 27th in the qualifying round of this event. Her ticket to the Paris Olympics came from her performance in the 10m air pistol at the World Championships. According to the rules, she was allowed to participate in the 25m sport pistol event as well. But once again, Thu Vinh showed her incredible resilience at the Olympics. The 25m sport pistol event is divided into two parts: slow fire (30 shots) and rapid fire (30 shots). After the slow fire part, Thu Vinh ranked 12th. Then she exploded in the rapid fire part to make a spectacular comeback. From the 31st to the 45th shot, Thu Vinh scored a perfect 10. In the final 10 rapid-fire shots, she scored 9 more perfect 10s. In total, Thu Vinh finished with 587 points, ranking 4th. Her performance was only behind Veronika Major (Hungary, 592 points), Manu Bhaker (India, 590 points), and Haniyeh Rostamiyan (Iran, 588 points). It was higher than Zhao Nan (China, 586 points), Yang Jiin (South Korea, 586 points), Jedzejewski (France, 585 points), and Morgan Abeln (USA, 585 points). Notably, Kim Yeji – the South Korean shooter who won the silver medal in the 10m air pistol event – ​​was eliminated. Thu Vinh, along with Major and Bhaker, are the three shooters who qualified for the finals in both the 10m air pistol and the 25m sport pistol events. This achievement demonstrates the true class of the 24-year-old shooter.

The final is unpredictable.

But the qualifying rounds and the final are two different things. Major once topped the 10m air pistol qualifying round but then finished last in the final. The elimination format in the final puts immense pressure on the shooters. Regarding Thu Vinh's chances in the final, former coach Nguyen Thi Nhung said: "Vinh's forte is still the 10m air pistol. In the qualifying round, Vinh's slow-fire performance was lower than in training. But after that, she excelled in the rapid-fire. We need Vinh to do well in the rapid-fire because the final competition format is similar. If Vinh achieves stability and composure in the competition, then rapid-fire will be her forte." According to the coach of the Vietnamese shooting team, Tran Quoc Cuong, Thu Vinh is making remarkable progress in the rapid-fire. He said, "Only recently has Vinh performed well in the rapid-fire event. Before that, she was only strong in the slow-fire event. My only worry is that Vinh still lacks consistency going into the final. Regarding her opponents, I highly rate the shooters from Hungary, France, South Korea, and China." In the 25m sport pistol event, according to the International Shooting Federation (ISSF), Thu Vinh is ranked 29th in the world. Her highest ranking at international competitions was 10th at the World Cup and 16th at the Asian Championships. But in a sport with many unpredictable elements like shooting, statistics on past rankings and achievements don't carry much significance. Trinh Thu Vinh is almost certainly the only athlete representing Vietnam's chance to win a medal at Paris 2024. But even if she fails, the 24-year-old female shooter will still provide moments of suspense and anticipation – a feeling rarely experienced by Vietnamese fans watching the last two Olympic Games.

The women's 25m sport pistol final consists of 10 rapid-fire series of 5 shots, starting from 0 points and scoring based on Hit-Miss. Shots within the hit zone with a score of 10.2 or higher are counted as 1 point (1 hit). The shooter with the lowest score in the final will be eliminated progressively from the 4th to the 10th series to determine the medal winners. If two or more shooters are tied in the same position, they will fire additional penalty shootouts until a final result is determined.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cam-on-trinh-thu-vinh-20240803075817585.htm