HER NAME initials read F.T.W.

It could very well stand for Foreign Talent Wonder.

Together with table tennis glamour girl Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu, Feng Tianwei was part of the trio which won a silver medal in the team event at the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

It was Singapore's first Olympic medal since Tan Howe Liang won a weightlifting silver at the 1960 Rome Games.

It was a team effort nonetheless, but Feng easily stood out as the star performer in Beijing.

It was the 22-year-old China-born paddler who delivered the winning point against South Korea's Park Mi Young in the team event semi-final.

For someone who was making her Olympic debut, Feng paid scant respect to reputation and raised her game against the top-ranked Chinese players.

In the quarter-final of the singles event, she gave world No. 1 Zhang Yining a mighty scare before losing in five tight sets 11-13, 14-12, 12-14, 10-12, 11-13.

She might have lost, but her gutsy performance would surely have left a lasting impression on her fellow Singaporeans back home.

Even China's women's head coach Shi Zhihao predicted a bright future for Feng after watching her in Beijing.

He told The New Paper: 'If you ask me to compare Feng Tianwei with Li Jiawei, I would say Feng has the potential to go very far.

'If she can avoid injuries and given proper training, she can become one of the top players in the world one day.'

The soft-spoken paddler has come a long way since she was plucked from obscurity in Japan's professional league and persuaded to don Singapore colours by outgoing national coach Liu Guodong.

Like many foreign-born players, Feng had to make a lot of sacrifices to fulfil her dream of playing at the Olympic Games.

Coping with homesickness is one thing.

She was on the verge of a mental breakdown in the weeks leading up to the Olympic Games.

To prepare her for the Olympic Games, Liu put Feng under immense pressure during a training camp to Japan.

The training only galvanised her into a fearless competitor in Beijing.

Now, the sky's the limit for the former China B team trainee.

Last month, Feng won her first International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Pro Tour singles title at the Polish Open, beating compatriot Wang in the women's final.

New No. 1

When Feng became a Singapore citizen in January this year, she was ranked 28th in the world rankings.

According to the latest rankings released earlier this month, Feng has risen to a career high No. 6, overtaking the seventh-ranked Li as the new No. 1 in Singapore.

There are many worthy local candidates for the top sporting hero award in 2008, but my vote goes to Feng for her devil-may-care display in Beijing.

For the past decade, Li has been the Republic's flag-bearer in table tennis.

But with marriage on the cards and her desire to pursue studies in China, it won't be long before Singapore's queen of table tennis brings the curtain down on her international career.

So who can be the heiress apparent?

There's only one candidate.

And her name initials read F.T.W..