Serving up future options

Compared to her friends of the same school age, Nima Zhuoma has another string in her bow - or rather another string in her racket.

Seven years ago, Zhuoma, who is now 14, was selected from a remote village in Tibet to learn tennis.

Yang Xi, 56, a former Chinese national volleyball player and member of the team that won five consecutive world titles - World Cup, World Championships, Olympic Games - in the mid-1980s, said her aim in funding a tennis training class for impoverished children was to provide motivation and inspiration to anyone wanting to be a champion in sport or employment.