Hung secures all-around berth to London Olympics

Moving on: Gymnast Pham Phuoc Hung performs in the pommel horse event at the National Gymnastic Championship. He has managed to qualify for this year London Olympics. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Truong

HA NOI — Male gymnast Pham Phuoc Hung secured a place to compete at the London Olympic Games after narrowly making the cut at the Olympic Games Test Event in England on Wednesday.

The qualifying event for the all-round gymnastics competition at the Olympics saw athletes vie for one of 27 tickets to the games. Hung secured the 26th place, becoming the second Vietnamese gymnast to secure a place at the summer Olympics.

Hung has excelled in competitions recently, winning two gold medals at the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia last November.

Hung, 24, who entered the men's gymnastics programme when he was seven, finished fourth in the men's individual parallel bars at the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Portugal.

The Hanoian, who has been training in China since 1998, will be a contender in the men's all-around competition in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Viet Nam's first gymnast to win a ticket to the Olympics was 21-year-old Phan Thi Ha Thanh.

Hailing from the northern port city of Hai Phong, Thanh won a bronze medal at the recent world event.

So far Viet Nam has five athletes on their way to London: gymnasts Thanh and Hung, taekwondo artists Le Huynh Chau and Chu Hoang Dieu Linh, and judoka Van Ngoc Tu.

In addition, top Vietnamese badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh is expected to play in London as he is ranked eighth in the world. — VNS

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