Liem pocketed 7.5 points after nine games, level with eventual gold medalist Kasimdzhanov rustam of Uzbekistan. Liem lost out as he had been defeated by Rustam in their match on November 15.

It is the first time chess has become an official sport of ASIAD.

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The nine-man Vietnam Olympic football team, which qualified for the second round in their first appearance at the Asian Games, lost to a powerful Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 2-0 in the knock-out round at Yuexiu Stadium.

Later, Vietnam’s women footballers lost to China 0-1 in the last minutes during the preliminary round.

It was the second defeat for the Southeast Asian Games champions, who are set to play Jordan in the last group round match on November 18.

VNS