ISSF Ranking: Vietnamese shooter ranks third in 50m pistol

Vietnam’s veteran marksman Hoang Xuan Vinh maintained his place as world no. 3 in the 50m pistol category with 1,280 points as the world ranking for the first month of 2016 was announced recently by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).

Top Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh
Top Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh

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Chinese Zhang Bowen reigned on top of the world with 1,491 points, 39 points more than the runner-up, Jin Jongoh from the Republic of Korea.

The 50m pistol has become one of Vinh’s favourite disciplines in recent years. At the 2012 London Olympics Games, the military shooter ended up in fourth place in this event scoring 658.5 points, just 0.1 point away from the bronze medalist, Wang Zhiwei of China.

Tran Quoc Cuong climbed one notch to 50th in the world 35 points, while Nguyen Hoang Phuong dropped two places to 68th position with seven points.

The 10m air pistol ranking saw Vietnam’s Quoc Cuong as world no. 21 with 239 points, up three places against the previous month, while Xuan Vinh slipped one notch to 26th with 220 points.

Xuan Vinh and Quoc Cuong have already booked two official berths in the 2016 Rio Olympics following their fourth and sixth place finishes in the 50m pistol and 10m air pistol respectively at the 51st ISSF World Championships in Spain two years ago.