Vietnam crowned champions at Asia-Pacific robot contest

The Vietnamese team triumphed at the ABU Asia-Pacific Robot Contest (ABU Robocon) this year after beating Malaysia, last year's winner, in the final on Sunday.

Thailand and Japan shared third place after losing in the semi-finals.

The Vietnamese team at this year's ABU Robocon in Japan. Photo by VnExpress/Nghia Dang

This year's Vietnamese team featured 13 students from Lac Hong University in the southern province of Dong Nai, which neighbors Saigon. Lac Hong was selected as the country's representative on the international stage after winning the national competition in May.

Sunday's victory is also the second time Lac Hong University has won the competition, having been crowned winners in 2014 and runners-up in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

Before taking down Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in the final, the Vietnamese team defeated India's College of Engineering, Pune in the quarter-final and Japan's Tokyo Institute of Technology in the semi-final.

The ABU Robocon is an annual robot competition for Asian and Oceanic universities, colleges and polytechnics, organized by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU). This year's competition was held in Tokyo and drew 19 teams from 18 countries and territories.

Vietnam has been participating in the ABU Robocon since its inception in 2002. This year's victory sees Vietnam overtake China to become the competition's most successful country, having won 6 times compared to China's 5.