Vietnam's women's 10m air pistol team, comprising Trinh Thu Vinh, Trieu Thi Hoa Hong, and Nguyen Thuy Trang, secured a silver medal at the 2026 Asian pistol and rifle championship. The Vietnamese trio achieved a total score of 1,713 points. Host nation India claimed the gold medal with 1,726 points, while Taiwan earned the bronze medal, finishing just two points behind Vietnam.

In the qualifying round, the three Vietnamese shooters competed against 20 rivals from countries including India, Taiwan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Japan. Thu Vinh and Hoa Hong ranked 8th and 9th respectively, both scoring 573 points. Thu Vinh secured the higher position due to hitting the bullseye 16 times compared to Hoa Hong's 15. Thuy Trang ranked 15th with 567 points.

Thu Vinh and Hoa Hong also qualified for the individual final in this event, which is reserved for the top 8 shooters. Hoa Hong, despite ranking 9th, secured a spot because India had four athletes in the top 8, and competition regulations limit each country to a maximum of three entries in the final round.

Trinh Thu Vinh, Nguyen Thuy Trang, and Trieu Thi Hoa Hong (from left) won the women's 10m air pistol team gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand in 12/2025. Photo: Dong Huyen

The competition format for the event involved each shooter firing 60 shots divided into six series during the qualifying round. In the final, athletes fired 10 shots in the initial two series. From the 3rd to the 9th series, shooters fired two shots per series, contributing to their total score. The lowest-scoring individual was gradually eliminated until a winner was determined.

In the individual final, Hoa Hong was eliminated in the 5th series, finishing 6th with 154,7 points. Thu Vinh was eliminated in the subsequent series after achieving 177,2 points.

This silver medal follows a previous success for the trio, who won a gold medal in the same event at the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand.

The 2026 Asian pistol and rifle championship is being held from 2/2 to 14/2 in India. The event features 311 athletes from 20 countries. The host nation, India, has the largest contingent with 118 shooters, followed by Kazakhstan with 35 and Iran with 28.

Vietnam sent 14 shooters to compete in India, including: Trinh Thu Vinh, Pham Quang Huy, Le Thi Mong Tuyen, Ha Minh Thanh, Phi Thanh Thao, Trieu Thi Hoa Hong, Vu Tien Nam, Phan Cong Minh, Tran Cong Hieu, Nguyen Thuy Trang, Lai Cong Minh, Nguyen Dinh Thanh, Nguyen Tam Quang, and Nguyen Thuy Dung.

This championship serves as an important preparatory event for Vietnamese shooting as the team looks towards the 20th ASIAD in Japan in 9. After competing in India, the team may participate in pistol and rifle World Cup stages in Spain in 4, Germany in 5, and China in 7.

In its inaugural staging in 2024, which also served as an Olympic qualifier, Vietnam only had two athletes competing in the women's 10m air pistol qualifiers. Thu Vinh ranked 15th with 572 points, while Thuy Trang ranked 34th with 565 points. The competition in Indonesia two years prior saw Vietnam win a gold medal in the 10m mixed team air pistol, secured by Thu Vinh and Pham Quang Huy. The national team also claimed two men's team silver medals in the 25m standard air pistol and 25m rapid-fire pistol events, attributed to Ha Minh Thanh, Phan Xuan Chuyen, and Vu Tien Nam.

Hieu Luong