In the women’s lightweight doubles sculls final, Thao and Hao finished their heat in second, with a time of 7min 17.34sec, 1.5 seconds slower than the duo from the host country.

FILE PHOTO: Luong Thi Thao (R) and teammates celebrate winning a gold medal for Vietnamese rowing in the women's lightweight quadruple sculls event at the 2018 Asian Games.

According to regulations, the top three teams would qualify for the Tokyo Games, meaning the two Vietnamese athletes will now join rowers from Japan and Iran at the Games.

This discipline once brought the only slot for Vietnamese rowing in the 2012 and 2016 Games, where the Vietnamese representatives coursed through the preliminary round but then settled for 18th and 16th place in the final competition, respectively.

Prior to Luong Thi Thao and Dinh Thi Hao, six other Vietnamese athletes had already booked their places in the upcoming Tokyo Games, namely swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang, gymnasts Le Thanh Tung and Dinh Phuong Thanh, archers Nguyen Hoang Phi Vu and Do Thi Anh Nguyet, and boxer Nguyen Van Duong.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Vietnam was represented by 23 athletes across 10 sports, with shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh bringing home the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal.

The Tokyo Games is scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021, featuring a total of 339 sets of medals to be awarded across 33 sports.

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Source: NDO