This is a historic achievement as the game has been dominated by Chinese players for years.
Under the rules of the competition, the men’s team results are calculated according to the ranks of the top two players from each team, in which the team with a lower sum of ranks will be ranked higher.
Bao and Huynh did not win in the men’s individual event but their combined results outperformed those of their Chinese opponents, who ranked second, followed by the team from Hong Kong (China) in third place.
After nine games, Bao scored four wins and five draws to finish third and won the bronze medal in the men’s individual event, while Huynh finished fourth with three wins and six draws.
Bao’s bronze medal is also an impressive achievement for Vietnamese xiangqi, as it is the first medal in an individual event at a world championship after ten years.
At the tournament, two junior female Vietnamese players Dinh Tran Thanh Lam and Nguyen Trac Hoang Thi also bagged two golds in the U16 and U12 youth events.
