Đặng Khánh Linh, Cao Ngọc Bảo Anh and Chu Vân Yến at the world final round of the World Scholar's Cup at Yale University in the US. — Photo vov.vn

HÀ NỘI — Three 10th graders from Hà Nội won nine medals at the world final round of the Tournament of Champions at the World Scholar’s Cup 2022 which took place at Yale University in the United States earlier this week.

They are Đặng Khánh Linh, Cao Ngọc Bảo Anh and Chu Vân Yến from the international Olympia School, based in Từ Liêm District.

Linh, Bảo Anh and Yến attended the senior table, which is for students in grades 10, 11 and 12.

Overcoming 1,600 contestants from 46 countries, the three Vietnamese students won a total of nine medals, including two golds and seven silvers as individuals and as a team.

The World Scholar’s Cup (WSC) is an academic competition for high students around the world.

This is a playground for students to express their opinions about many topics such as civics, science, history, literature, and the arts through discussions and debates in English.

The programme attracts competitors from more than 50 countries around the world and is attended by more than 3,000 students each year.

Students participate in the WSC in teams, with each team consisting of three members divided into primary from 8-11 years old, junior from 12-14 years old, and senior from 15-18 years old, with four official contests: Scholar's Challenge, Collaborative Writing, Team Debate and the Scholar's Bowl.

After two qualifiying rounds, the world final round – Tournament of Champions (ToC) which takes place in November every year at one of the most prestigious schools in the world, Yale University.

This year, themed “A World Re-Renewed”, was divided into six fields of Special Areas - Mistakes & Recoveries; Science & Technology - To Edit a Planet; History - The History of Succession; Social Studies - Out with the Old; Art & Music - Second Chances, Second Glances; and Literature & Media - Reboots, Sequels, and Reconsideration.

At the 12th competition, after winning medals at the regional and global qualifying rounds, which were organised in Việt Nam and Bangkok, respectively, the three Vietnamese students won tickets to the final round in the US.

At the regional round, the team of three girls won a set of four Gold Cups and more than 20 individual and team gold and silver medals for all three categories: Writing, Knowledge and Debating.

At the global round with 20 participating countries and 1,200 contestants, Linh's team won the individual and team gold medals in the debating category, silver medals in the knowledge and writing categories and won tickets to the TOC World Round in the United States.

“We were extremely happy to be selected for the world final round in the US,” Linh said.

“The Asia-Pacific regional competition in Bangkok was very difficult and fierce. Being able to participate in the final round at Yale University was a great opportunity to compete with the strongest teams from all regions of the world, especially big countries such as the US, UK, France, Germany and Canada,” Linh said.

“In the world final round, the difficulty increased a lot. In the global round, our team had to debate tough topics like democracy and dictatorship, climate change, and artificial intelligence,” Linh said.

“But in this final round, the contestants had to debate high philosophic topics such as people would be happier if they have the opportunity to live twice a day, or cultural themes of folk, national, contemporary and Pop music,” the student said.

“And we did well in the debates with determination, calmness and the highest teamwork," she said.

In the final round with 1,600 contestants from 46 countries, the team of three girls won a total of nine medals.

In particular, Linh won the Gold Medal in the essay category - the most difficult category, especially for candidates whose English is not their mother tongue.

Among the six fields, Linh selected the topic "Literature and Communication", analysing classic literary works that have been transformed into various art forms, having humanistic value and being circulated throughout centuries.

This is a difficult thesis, requiring not only the writer's knowledge but also deep perception and ability to express delicate literature.

“Writing essays is my forte. Although I set a high goal, I was also very surprised and happy when I won the gold medal in this category, because the competition in this round was very big and full of players,” Linh said.

"We want to bring an image of Vietnamese students who are knowledgeable, dynamic, brave, confident and knowledgeable about current issues of the world,” the girls said. — VNS