Archers hunt Olympic slots from World Cup

The World Cup has four stages. The first one is scheduled for April 23 to 28 in Shanghai, China. The second stage is held from May 21-26 in Yecheon, the Republic of Korea. The third stage is from June 18-23 in Antalya, Turkey. The final stage will be in September with the venue being confirmed later.

The Antalya leg will also host the final qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with both team and individual quotas available.

The best eight archers of each category will advance to an additional stage to contest the Archery World Cup Final.

Vietnam’s national team is in intensive training at Hanoi's National Sports Training Centre No 1, asking archers to perform to the best of their abilities for the Olympic qualification which is their most important task of the year.

“We have invested the maximum on the key players to get ready and participate in the 2024 World Cup," said Phan Trong Quan of the Sports Authority of Vietnam's Archery Department.

"These are events where my players can collect points for their world rankings and receive direct spots if they take medals. It is opportunity for us to qualify for the Paris Olympics."

The International Olympic Committee offers 128 official places to 64 male and 64 female athletes to Paris this summer.

Vietnam have not won any place in archery so far but target at least one. The World Cup is the last tournament for them to try.

Among 14 key athletes, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhi and Do Thi Anh Nguyet are among the best with potential to get high results internationally.

The duo not only dominated the national tournament but also made their names in regional competitions.

Nhi won an individual gold and team bronze at the 2022 ASIA Cup - SHARJAH in Qatar after two golds at the Singapore Open event.

Nguyet also championed at the Singapore Open and took silver and bronze at the 31st SEA Games 2022 in Hanoi.

In 2023, Nhi, Nguyet and teammates took part in several Olympic qualification events including the world championship, Asian Games and the Asian championship. However, none of them was successful.

Vietnam first came to Olympics at the 2020 Tokyo Games when Nguyen Hoang Phi Vu and Nguyet took their official slots.