Thu Vinh's formidable opponents in the 25m sport pistol final.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - In the women's sport pistol final taking place at 2:30 PM today, Trinh Thu Vinh will face 7 of the world's top shooters with the hope of winning a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

1. Veronika Major (Hungary) : Hungarian athlete Veronika Major, born in 1997, excellently finished first with 592 points in the qualifying round of the women's 25m sport pistol event at the Paris 2024 Olympics on August 2nd. This is the shooter's second time participating in the Olympics, having competed in the women's 10m air pistol event at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Veronika Major has won three medals at the World Championships, including two in 2014 and 2016. In 2019, she also became the European Champion in the 50m mixed moving target event.

Veronika Major is considered a strong contender for the gold medal in the 25m pistol event at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Photo: Getty).

Since shooting moving targets is not an Olympic sport, she switched to Olympic pistol events, showcasing her class by winning gold medals in both the 10m air pistol and 25m sport pistol at the 2019 ISSF World Shooting Championships. In 2022, she continued her impressive form by winning silver medals in the 25m sport pistol at the ISSF World Shooting Championships held in Baku (Azerbaijan) and Cairo (Egypt). She repeated this achievement in 2023 with three gold medals in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Cairo (Egypt) in both the 25m sport pistol and 10m air pistol events. Last September, Major also won the Hungarian national championship in the 25m sport pistol event. 2. Manu Bhaker (India) Manu Bhaker is also considered a formidable opponent of Trinh Thu Vinh in the women's 25m sport pistol event, finishing second in the qualifying round with 590 points. The shooter, born in 2002, won two bronze medals for the Indian shooting team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in the women's 10m air pistol and the women's 10m air pistol mixed team event.

Manu Bhaker won a gold medal at the 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships (Photo: Getty).

She also became the first Indian woman to win two medals at a single Olympic Games. Previously, Bhaker had won a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the age of 16. She also became the youngest Indian athlete to win a gold medal at the 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships. 3. Hanieh Rostamian (Iran) Hanieh Rostamian, a 25-year-old Iranian shooter, also ranked above Trinh Thu Vinh in the women's 25m sport pistol qualifying round with 588 points. This is Hanieh Rostamian's second Olympic appearance; she previously competed in the women's 10m air pistol and 10m mixed team air pistol events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but did not achieve good results.

The Iranian sports delegation hopes Hanieh Rostamian will make history at the Paris Olympics (Photo: Getty).

The shooter, born in 1988, previously won a gold medal at the 2022 World Shooting Championships in Brazil and a silver medal at the same competition in 2023 in Azerbaijan. "This is a tough competition because the Olympics have brought together the best shooters in the world in Paris. I will try my best to win a medal today (August 3rd) and I hope the Iranian people will pray for me," Rostamian shared before the 25m pistol final. 4. Katelyn Morgan Abeln (USA) Katelyn Morgan Abeln is considered a dark horse at the 2024 Paris Olympics as there is not much information available about this shooter born in 2001. The outstanding achievement of the 23-year-old female athlete is the gold medal at the 2022 American Shooting Championships in the women's 25m sport pistol event.

Katelyn Morgan Abeln won the women's 25m sport pistol event at the 2024 US National Championships (Photo: Getty).

Most recently, she also won the 2024 US National Shooting Championships in the women's 25m sport pistol event and secured a spot on the US shooting team for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 5. Yang Jiin (South Korea). The South Korean shooter made her mark by winning the gold medal in the women's 25m sport pistol event at the 2024 World Shooting Championships in Baku (Azerbaijan). Notably, the athlete born in 2003 set a world record with 41 bullseye hits, breaking the previous record set by Hungarian shooter Veronika Major at the 2019 World Shooting Championships in New Delhi (Major had 40 bullseye hits).

Yang Jiin (center) previously won a gold medal and broke the world record in the women's 25m sport pistol event at the 2024 World Shooting Championships (Photo: Yonhap).

6. Zhao Nan (China) Zhao Nan is one of 14 shooters from the Chinese team participating in shooting events at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 20-year-old's most outstanding achievement is winning the silver medal in the women's 25m sport pistol event at the 2024 World Shooting Championships.

Zhao Nan, the Chinese shooter, is also an interesting dark horse at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Photo: Sina).

7. Camille Jedrzejewski (France) Camille Jedrzejewski is a French shooter specializing in the women's 10m air pistol and 25m air pistol events. Jedrzejewski won two medals at the 2021 ISSF Junior World Championships, before qualifying for the 2022 ISSF World Cup Finals, where she went on to win one gold and one silver medal.

Camille Jedrzejewski represents host nation France in the women's 25m pistol final at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Photo: Getty).

At the 2023 European Games, she won a silver medal in the women's 25m sport pistol individual event, as well as a silver medal in the women's 25m mixed pistol team event.

What are the expectations for shooter Trinh Thu Vinh? "Many people have asked me about Thu Vinh's chances of winning a medal in today's final. From a professional perspective, I have the following analysis: In the qualifying round, Thu Vinh achieved an excellent score of 587 points. This is the highest score Thu Vinh has ever achieved in an international competition. According to the shooting rules at the Paris 2024 Olympics, in the final round, athletes only compete in the rapid-fire event, a series of 5 shots in 3'7' (7 seconds holding the gun and 3 seconds shooting). A point is only counted when hitting the bullseye at 10.2 points. In the qualifying round, Thu Vinh shot 30 shots and hit 14 bullseye shots (from 10.2 points onwards). Therefore, we can see the difficulty of this event in the final. It's possible to hit many perfect 10s without them being counted. Let's cheer for Thu Vinh, appreciate her efforts, and have faith in her every shot," said the coach. Nguyen Thi Nhung shared her thoughts before the 25m pistol final round with shooter Trinh Thu Vinh.

Trinh Thu Vinh's 7 opponents in the women's 25m pistol final (Photo: IOC).

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Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/nhung-doi-thu-dang-gom-cua-thu-vinh-o-chung-ket-25m-sung-ngan-the-thao-20240802234033043.htm