Nagoya, 23 Sep 2026 – Vietnam claimed a surprise bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol team event at the 2026 Asian Games on September 23, with Trinh Thu Vinh, Nguyen Thuy Trang and Bui Thuy Thu Thuy edging India in a dramatic tie-break.
Vietnam entered three shooters in the women’s 10m air pistol qualification, with the combined scores of all three athletes determining the team standings, while the eight highest-ranked individuals would advance to the individual final. Trinh Thu Vinh, an Asian champion who also finished fourth in the event at the Paris Olympics, was considered Vietnam’s leading medal hope. However, after 60 shots, Thu Vinh recorded 574 points and finished 11th in qualification, leaving her outside the individual final.
Instead, it was 22-year-old Nguyen Thuy Trang who produced Vietnam’s standout individual performance. She scored 577 points to finish fifth in qualification, becoming the only Vietnamese shooter to secure a place in the women’s 10m air pistol individual final. Vietnam’s third competitor, Bui Thuy Thu Thuy, also delivered a solid performance with 568 points. Their combined score of 1,719 put Vietnam in contention for a team medal.
China continued their dominance in the event by taking gold with 1,735 points, while South Korea secured silver with 1,730. Vietnam and India were locked together on 1,719 points, meaning the bronze medal had to be decided by a secondary tie-break criterion. The difference came down to the number of inner tens, commonly referred to as Xs, with Vietnam recording 46 compared with India’s 44.
In 10m air pistol shooting, a shot landing in the 10-ring earns the maximum score of 10 points. Within that ring, however, there is an even smaller central area known as the inner ten, or X-ring. Under International Shooting Sport Federation standards, the 10-ring on a 10m air pistol target measures 11.5mm in diameter, while the inner-ten area is just 5mm across. An X still counts as 10 points rather than 11, but the number of inner tens can be used as a tie-breaker when shooters or teams finish with identical overall scores.
That precision ultimately separated Vietnam from India. Thu Vinh registered 19 inner tens, Thuy Trang added 15 and Thu Thuy contributed 12, giving Vietnam a total of 46 — just two more than India. The narrow advantage was enough to secure the bronze medal for the Vietnamese trio.
Although Thu Vinh fell short of expectations in the individual qualification, her 574-point performance and team-leading 19 inner tens proved crucial to Vietnam’s podium finish. Together with the impressive performances of Thuy Trang and Thu Thuy, the trio delivered another medal for Vietnam at ASIAD 2026, with Thuy Trang also keeping alive the country’s hopes of further success in the individual final.
VSN/RPT
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