Giving talent room to grow ... and win

Last Sunday in Moscow, three Singaporean women did the unthinkable in the international table tennis arena - they beat the Chinese team to take home their country's first World Team Table Tennis Championships title.

The Chinese paddlers' failure to defend the team title marked a seismic shift in China's stranglehold on the sport. At the Beijing Olympics two years ago, China won the men's and women's team events as well as provided all three medalists for the singles matches. Its loss on Sunday ended a 17-year domination of the world title.

In the past few days, Singaporeans have been justifiably basking in the afterglow of their paddlers' win. The city-state's Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Sun Beibei have become national heroines.