A 19-year-old college student from the northeastern province of Cao Bang was crowned the new Miss World Vietnam 2019 after beating out 39 beauty contestants in the pageant finale on Saturday night, becoming the first Vietnamese woman to clinch such a title.

Luong Thuy Linh, born in 2000 in Cao Bang, was declared Miss World Vietnam in the finale in the central city of Da Nang, a victory allowing her to represent Vietnam at the oldest-running global beauty contest Miss World in the UK this December.

Two other young women, Nguyen Ha Kieu Loan and Nguyen Tuong San, claimed the first and second runner-up titles and will represent Vietnam in Miss Grand 2019 in Venezuela and Miss Intercontinental 2019 in India later this year, respectively.

This is the first time Miss World Vietnam 2019 has been held in Vietnam in order to select a Vietnamese representative for Miss World, after Sen Vang, a local company, announced the biennial competition in November last year.

The finale venue, Cocobay Da Nang, which is a five-star complex located on Truong Sa Street between the famed central city of Hoi An and Da Nang, was packed with audiences as they gathered to support 40 vying beauties and enjoy their strut.

In the red-carpet area, the organizing committee exhibited the crown worth VND3 billion (US$130,000), a lotus-shaped coronation chair, and a scepter encrusted with 83 gemstones, so that the audience could admire them and take photos with them before the opening performance at 8:15 pm, where the beauties graced the stage, showcasing Vietnam’s culture and traditions.

At 11:30 pm, Linh was named the winner of Miss World Vietnam 2019 after the beauties competed vigorously to make it to the top five, which included Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong and Duong Thi Ngoc, in addition to the top three Luong Thuy Linh, Nguyen Ha Kieu Loan, and Nguyen Tuong San, respectively.

Judges of the beauty contest included journalist Le Xuan Son, who acted as the main judge, Miss Vietnam 1992 Ha Kieu Anh, Miss Vietnam 2006 Mai Phuong Thuy, Professor Hoang Tu Hung, and famed singer Dam Vinh Hung.

Linh currently majors in international business at Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, a program taught completely in English.

“Luong Thuy Linh is outstanding in math, has good English skills, is a beautiful girl, is confident, active, and gets along well with others,” her school’s Facebook page wrote about Linh when it encouraged its students to vote for the young beauty.

Linh scored 7.5 out of 9.0 on the coveted IELTS test.

In addition to her admirable academic results, Linh is a proactive young woman who is keen on participating in various extracurricular activities of her school, like fashion and masters of ceremonies clubs.

Throughout the finale, Linh was constantly hailed for her impressive runway skills and was singled out for Top 5 Ocean Beauties and Top 3 Fashion Beauties.

The new beauty queen impressed the audience with her beautiful posture, fluent English, outstanding academic results, and confident answer during the highly-anticipated Q&A session.

Linh was asked what the most beautiful moment at Miss World Vietnam 2019 was, to which she gave a succinct answer.

“Throughout this journey, me and 39 other contestants are left with many beautiful moments and memories,” Linh answered.

“However, the moment I feel the proudest of must be being here and answering the Q&A session question, and this moment will be even more memorable if I am crowned the beauty queen,” she added, wowing the audience.

Linh will enter her two-year tenure as Miss World Vietnam and will compete as Vietnam’s representative at one of the longest-standing global beauty contests Miss World, which will be held in London.

Miss World, established in 1951 in the UK, is an annual global beauty competition.

Along with Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth, this pageant is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants—the most coveted beauty titles when it comes to international pageant competitions.

Last year, Mexican beauty Vanessa Ponce was crowned Miss World, while Vietnam’s representative Tran Tieu Vy, who won Miss Vietnam 2018, merely made it to Top 30.