Marksman Hoang Xuan Vinh (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Olympic champion shooter Hoang XuanVinh has announced he will not compete at the 31st Southeast Asian Games to beheld in Vietnam next year.
Vice President of the Vietnam Shooting Federation (VFS)Nguyen Thi Nhung confirmed the news.
“Vinh is an experienced athlete who has participated in manyGames. But if he continues joining the regional tournament, there will be nochance for the young ones,” said Nhung who is the head coach of the nationalteam.
“We thought a lot before making the decision.”
According to Nhung, Vinh's teammate Tran Quoc Cuong, 45, mayalso withdraw from the Games which will be held in Hanoi and surrounding citiesand provinces.
Vinh specialises in the men’s 10m air pistol events which hewon a gold and a silver, respectively, at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
2016 Olympian Cuong who placed fourth at the 2010 WorldChampionship also competes in men’s 10m air pistol and 50m pistol.
Both men, who finished intensive training camps in theRepublic of Korea in March, will focus on earning berths at the coming Olympicsin Tokyo next July.
“(Many qualifiers are over but) I have not secured a ticketto Japan. However, there are chances with several events in the next months,”said 45-year-old Vinh.
“Despite being reigning champion I can’t ensure what’s goingto happen because the Olympics is a really competitive event with theparticipation of all the best shooters in the world,” he said.
According to Nhung, also the VFS’s general secretary, aftertheir SEA Games’ retirement, Vietnam’s hopes lie with young marksmen.
Vietnam dominated shooting at the SEA Games since 2009 with11 gold medals to lead the ranking table. In the next two events, Vietnamesemarksmen secured seven each but they were still the top team.
However, their gold medal haul fell to four in the 28th Gamesin 2015 and one in the 29th Games two years later.
2019 was a big failure as they set a target of one gold butcould not make the task.
Vinh lost his title after his poor performance in the lastshots and ended with a silver, behind Pongpol Kulchairattana of Thailand.
After the loss, Vinh said he tried his best but the resultwas unexpected and admitted the pressure since his success in Rio in 20165 hadgotten to him.
Nhung said Vietnam’s poor results were due to the countrydepending too much on veteran athletes.
“To have elite athletes we need to build up a younggeneration from localities’ clubs. The best of them will be selected throughnational championships and trained more at the national team. The youngsterswould give a stronger push to our team,” said Nhung.
“However it will be a long process. I think we will have towait from at least six to eight years to have one reach the international leveland have a result at Olympics,” she said./.
Vice President of the Vietnam Shooting Federation (VFS)Nguyen Thi Nhung confirmed the news.
“Vinh is an experienced athlete who has participated in manyGames. But if he continues joining the regional tournament, there will be nochance for the young ones,” said Nhung who is the head coach of the nationalteam.
“We thought a lot before making the decision.”
According to Nhung, Vinh's teammate Tran Quoc Cuong, 45, mayalso withdraw from the Games which will be held in Hanoi and surrounding citiesand provinces.
Vinh specialises in the men’s 10m air pistol events which hewon a gold and a silver, respectively, at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
2016 Olympian Cuong who placed fourth at the 2010 WorldChampionship also competes in men’s 10m air pistol and 50m pistol.
Both men, who finished intensive training camps in theRepublic of Korea in March, will focus on earning berths at the coming Olympicsin Tokyo next July.
“(Many qualifiers are over but) I have not secured a ticketto Japan. However, there are chances with several events in the next months,”said 45-year-old Vinh.
“Despite being reigning champion I can’t ensure what’s goingto happen because the Olympics is a really competitive event with theparticipation of all the best shooters in the world,” he said.
According to Nhung, also the VFS’s general secretary, aftertheir SEA Games’ retirement, Vietnam’s hopes lie with young marksmen.
Vietnam dominated shooting at the SEA Games since 2009 with11 gold medals to lead the ranking table. In the next two events, Vietnamesemarksmen secured seven each but they were still the top team.
However, their gold medal haul fell to four in the 28th Gamesin 2015 and one in the 29th Games two years later.
2019 was a big failure as they set a target of one gold butcould not make the task.
Vinh lost his title after his poor performance in the lastshots and ended with a silver, behind Pongpol Kulchairattana of Thailand.
After the loss, Vinh said he tried his best but the resultwas unexpected and admitted the pressure since his success in Rio in 20165 hadgotten to him.
Nhung said Vietnam’s poor results were due to the countrydepending too much on veteran athletes.
“To have elite athletes we need to build up a younggeneration from localities’ clubs. The best of them will be selected throughnational championships and trained more at the national team. The youngsterswould give a stronger push to our team,” said Nhung.
“However it will be a long process. I think we will have towait from at least six to eight years to have one reach the international leveland have a result at Olympics,” she said./.
VNA