Vinh finished second in the women’s 25m pistol final with 43 points, earning an Olympic quota place and Vietnam’s first-ever silver medal at the World Shooting Championships. It was also the country’s best result in the competition.

Held from Nov. 1 to 14, the 2026 World Shooting Championships serve as the first major qualification event for the 2028 Olympics. The top three finishers in each of the 12 individual events earn one of 36 available quota places for the Los Angeles Games.

Vinh reached the final after scoring 585 points in qualification at the Lusail Shooting Range in Doha. She recorded 288 points in the precision stage and 297 in rapid fire, ranking seventh overall.

She faced seven opponents in the final, including India’s Esha Singh, who led the world rankings and held the world record with 43 points. Other finalists included South Korea’s Yang Ji-in, ranked second; India’s Manu Bhaker, fourth; Germany’s Doreen Vennekamp, sixth; Hungary’s Veronika Major, 15th; Portugal’s Joana Castelao, 19th; and China’s Zhang Yueyue, 26th. Vinh was ranked 28th in the event by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).

Unlike the qualification round, the final consisted entirely of rapid-fire shooting, a format that did not include the precision stage in which Vinh excels. Shooters fired in five-shot series, earning one point for each shot scoring at least 10.2. After four series, the lowest-scoring competitor was eliminated, with one shooter subsequently eliminated after each series until two remained for the final 10th series.

Vinh took the lead and maintained it through much of the final. After seven series, she had 31 points, seven ahead of Zhang, securing a top-three finish and an Olympic quota place. She reached the final series with 40 points, one ahead of Yang.

(From L) A screenshot shows silver medalist Trinh Thu Vinh, gold medalist Yang Ji-in and bronze medalist Zahng Yueyue in the women’s 25m pistol event at the 2026 World Shooting Championships in Qatar on Nov. 10, 2026.

In the gold-medal duel, however, 2024 Olympic champion Yang hit all five shots to overtake Vinh and win 44-43, setting a world record.

Yang celebrated before embracing her coach and teammates. The victory also helped her move past a difficult experience at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, where a failure to fire during qualification cost her a place in the individual final and contributed to South Korea losing the women’s team gold to China.

Vinh briefly appeared disappointed to miss out on gold but soon regained her composure and congratulated Yang. Her silver medal also eased the disappointment of narrowly missing bronze at the Asian Games.

“I am very happy to have won a medal at the World Championships for the first time, and to be the first Vietnamese athlete to qualify for the 2028 Olympics,” Vinh said. “I faced some difficulties entering the competition, but I managed to overcome them. I have achieved my goal.”

Born in 2000, Vinh represents the People’s Public Security sports delegation. She rose to prominence by finishing fourth in the women’s 10m air pistol final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the 33rd SEA Games, she won four gold medals in the individual and team 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events.

Before her individual silver, Vinh won a team bronze alongside Nguyen Thuy Trang and Nguyen Thuy Dung. The trio scored 1,745 points, finishing three behind South Korea and 16 behind India.

After 10 days of competition, China leads the World Championships medal table with 13 gold, six silver and seven bronze medals. India ranks second with two gold, five silver and two bronze, followed by South Korea with two gold, four silver and three bronze.

Vietnam is 17th with one silver and one bronze, level with Croatia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.