At the recently concluded Cheers Youth International Championships, which held its Finals on 22 Dec 2004, Singapore proudly displayed its new crop of teenaged girls, ranging from 12 to 14 years' old, who were recruited from China earlier in the year. They were popularly known as the "Pink Panthers" for their gusty and attractive displays on the courts. So good were they that they beat the competition from the other countries in the U-13, U-15 Singles and U-15 Doubles, there being no U-13 Doubles. In the U-13 Singles, Sheng Ying beat Taerattanachai Sapsiree of Thailand 11-4, 11-7, Fu Mingtian beat her compatriot, Yao Lei in the U-15, 11-3, 13-11 and in the U-15 Doubles, Fu teamed up with Zhang Beiwen to beat Taipeh's Cheng Wan Hui and Peng Hsiao Chu 15-11, 17-14. Even in the U-17 Singles our girls, Xing Aiying and her doubles partner, Sari Shinta Mulya were left to challenge for the title which Xing prevailed in three games 9-11, 11-1, 11-8. They then went on to capture the Doubles crown by beating Akarakulchai Kewalin and Patpal Chirapha of Thailand 15-3, 15-11. So all in, our teenaged girls contributed five titles. In addition, the U-15 Singles semi-finals were an all-Singapore affair, with Fu Mingtian defeating Gu Juan (seeded 2) 11-6, 11-4 and Yao Lei surprisingly downing the No. 1 seed, Zhang Beiwen, 11-8, 12-13, 11-4. So the two unseeded players eventually became champion and runner-up. It would appear that Singapore now has quite a dominant force in the girls U-15 category and if all goes according to plan, these girls will play a prominent role in our Uber Cup aspirations in due course. Of all these girls, Fu Mingtian seems to be better known as it was reported that she is related to China's ex-star Olympics diver of the same surname. Here are our pretty girls and do watch out for them as some of them could be the badminton stars of the future!
