Shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh narrowly misses Olympic medal

From 38 shooters taking part from across the globe, eight shooters with the highest scores entered the finals.

Vietnam had expected Vinh to at least reach the final round but yesterday he surpassed all expectations when he achieved fourth place after reaching a score of 563 points.

In the first series of shooting events Hoang Xuan Vinh scored 94 points and in the 2nd and 3rd series he continued to win high scores of 95 and 96.

At one point, Vinh's score was only three points less than that of third-ranking Wang of China-raising hopes for Vietnam's first Olympic medal.

Vinh also performed well in the eighth series, jumping to third place with 78 points.

But then he lost concentration and scored only 7.3 points in the ninth series and fell out of the top three, and although he corrected his mistake with 10.2 points in the final series, this was not enough for him to win a medal.

The score, however, was a significant personal achievement-the highest score attained by him since the start of his career. This was also an achievement for the country, as Vinh is the first Vietnamese shooter to win a fourth place in the Olympics, the highest honor Vietnam has achieved in international competition.

Vinh dropped from the top three after scoring 658.5 points - just 0.1 point less than the bronze medal winner, Wang Zhiwei of China.

South Korean Jin Jongoh took the gold with 662 points, followed by Choi Young-Rae who scored 661.5.

Vinh also took part in the men's 10m air pistol event last week but did not make it to the final round.

Despite not winning an Olympic medal, Hoang Xuan Vinh set a historic record for Vietnam, finishing in fourth place in the men's 50m pistol event yesterday in London.

Vietnam will now compete in the London Olympics in taekwondo, wrestling and track-and-field events and hope to realize at least one medal.