Sharp shooting markswomen bagged gold medal and SEA Games record in the women’s 10m running target rifle mixed team of SEA Games yesterday.

Armed: Cu Thanh Tu (pictured), Dang Hong Ha and Nguyen Thi Le Quyen won gold medals for Viet Nam in the women’s 10m running target rifle mixed team on December 14.

The Laos team also surpassed the SEA Games record with 1,040 points, but they finished second in the table for silver medal.

Thailand ranked third with 977 points.

Lao Khamla Xaiyavong won the gold in the individual event with 358 points, while Ha scored 353 points for silver medal.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Cu Thanh Tu and Lao Hongkham Xayyalath, recorded 352 points after 40 shots, taking part in two shoots-off to decide the individual bronze medal.

Hongkham beat Tu in the last two shots to win a bronze medal for Laos.

“It’s a great challenge for me and my team-mate Cu Thanh Tu today because we had to recover from flu a few days previously. But I tried my best and played a full part in winning gold in the team event,” Ha said.

“Today is the last competition for us (women’s running target rifle), so we can go home with gold. It’s a special prize for me and family.”

In the men’s 50m pistol, the men’s team including Nguyen Manh Tuong, Hoang Xuan Vinh and Ho Thanh Hai just took a silver medal with a total 1,618, while Singapore won the gold with 1,146 points.

Thailand bagged the bronze yesterday morning.

In the afternoon, the best eight shooters contested for the individual gold medal with the final 10 shots.

Nguyen Manh Tuong had a poor first shot, scoring 5.8 points, while Thailand’s Kulchirattana Pongpol gained 9.4 points.

It was a terrible result for two-time Olympian Tuong as he was a favourite shooter for the individual gold medal.

Although Tuong hit the bull’s eye in the last shot, it was not enough for him to overtake his Thai opponent.

Tuong just took a bronze with 641.3 points, while the Thai shooter recorded 648 points.

Gai Bin of Singapore ranked second for silver medal with 642.6 points.

“I was a bit nervous with the first shot in the 10 final shots. My finger triggered too fast and it led to my poor shot,” Tuong said after the competition.

The 25th SEA Games, his seventh, will be the last for veteran Tuong as he retires when he hits his 50th birthday next year.

Twenty-one year-old Thai Kulzchirattana, who won two individual golds and one bronze medal in the SEA Games, was pleased with his performance.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News