Archer Phong qualifies for Paris Oympics

Archery

RIGHT ON TARGET: Archer Lê Quốc Phong of Việt Nam (centre) and his coaches pose with his Olympic ticket, after Phong has qualified for the Summer Games. Photo courtesy of World Archery

HÀ NỘI — Archer Lê Quốc Phong has won Việt Nam's 12th official spot to compete at the Paris Oympic Games this summer.

Phong is among a group of Vietnamese players taking part in the Antalya 2024 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Turkey.

The tournament, on until June 23, is one of last competitions that offered Olympic tickets to athletes in either individual and team events.

The Vĩnh Long Province-born athlete defeated Ram Krishna Saha of Bangladesh 6-2 in the quarter-final match and successfully advanced to the semi-finals of the men's individual recurve event on June 17. He will next face Amirkhon Sadikov of Uzbekistan.

A top four place was enough for Phong to make his Olympic dream come true.

Phan Trọng Quân, of the Sports Authority of Việt Nam's Archery Department, said it was great news for archery and everyone was really happy with this official spot.

The semi-final result was also one of two best achievements of Việt Nam in a World Cup.

It was Phong, who made history as Viêt Nam's first ever World Cup's top four at the Yecheon World Cup in May in South Korea.

Vietnamese female archers were less successful in Antalya after veteran Lộc Thị Đào failed to make the individual semi-finals. But Việt Nam still have chance for the team event over the coming days.

Việt Nam had two competitors in the archery at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

With this ticket to the Games, Việt Nam have now completed its target of having at least 12 representatives competing in Paris, although the sports delegation is still hoping for 15 athletes to get there.

Olympic qualifier rounds are still on-going until the end June and Việt Nam still have potential candidates in judo, swimming and athletics.