With a lot of practise and some help from his bandmates, U Ko Ko mastered his classical repertoire at a young age and began to build a reputation among musical circles as a singer, xylophone player and pianist.

Nevertheless she visits the gym regularly to practice weight training in order to beef up her slight arms and thighs, much to the distress of her mother, who favours a more traditional look.

Ma Yin May Myo, 11, who has won three of the four junior national women’s championships played at the Myanmar Golf Club since October 2006, is no stranger to international competitions.

“Our main rivals are definitely going to be Thailand and I’m sure they will be working hard to give their best performance seeing as this is one of their traditional sports and we beat them in Manila,” ...