HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese archers Đỗ Thị Ánh Nguyệt and Nguyễn Hoàng Phi Vũ have made their debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Nguyệt finished 49th among a total of 64 competitors with 628 points in the qualifying round of the Women’s Recurve event. 

Nguyệt, however, will progress to the next round to compete against the host nation’s Hayakawa Ren.

This year marks the first time that the 20-year-old archer has competed in the Olympics.

Three athletes from South Korea, An San, Jang Min-hee and Kang Chae-young are currently leading the women’s archery, scoring 680, 677 and 675 points, respectively.

With 680 points, San has broken the previous Olympic record held by Ukrainian archer Herasymenko Lina since 1996 (673 points).

On the men’s side, Nguyễn Hoàng Phi Vũ gained 647 points and ranked 53rd out of 64 athletes. Kim Je Deok of South Korea leads this category with 688 points, followed by Ellison Brady of the US with 682 points and Oh Jinhyek with 681 points.

With this result, Vũ will face Tang Chih Chung of Chinese Taipei who ranked 12th in the qualifying round with 668 points in the knock-out round.

With a total score of 647 for Vũ and 628 points for Nguyệt, the two Vietnamese archers have a total score of 1,275, and are ranked 23 out of 29 in the mixed doubles. This means they can’t win the right to compete in the next round, taking place on July 24.

Việt Nam sent a 43-strong delegation, including 18 athletes competing in 11 sports to the Tokyo Olympics, led by Deputy General Director of the Việt Nam Sports Administration Trần Đức Phấn.

In the opening ceremony on July 23, runners Quách Thị Lan and Nguyễn Huy Hoàng had the honour of carrying the Vietnamese flag.

For the first time in Olympic history, national flags will be carried by two athletes at the Games. The new tradition, with every nation to be led out by both female and male athletes, is part of the International Olympic Committee's efforts to push gender equality.

Among Vietnamese athletes, veteran badminton player Nguyễn Tiến Minh has the most experience at the Olympics. This will be his fourth trip to the Olympics.

Marksman Hoàng Xuân Vinh is the oldest Vietnamese athlete turning 47 in October.

Tokyo will be Vinh’s third Olympics, with a special invitation from the organisers after he failed to take an official slot. He is the defending champion in the men’s 10m air pistol.

Vinh made history in Rio in 2016 when he was the first Vietnamese person to win a gold medal at an Olympics. The soldier came home with one gold and one silver, making it the most successful Olympics for Việt Nam ever coming 50th in the medal tally. — VNS