WHEN the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) chose the foreign talent path, many Singaporeans were up in arms.
Nothing can substitute the pride of seeing a local-born athlete perform at a major tournament, the detractors argued.
On their part, STTA, along with the many National Sports Associations (NSA) that followed suit, painstakingly explained that the arrival of these foreign talents will ultimately improve the standard of the athletes who are Singaporean through and through.
Paddler Isabelle Li, who turns 16 on Saturday but is already a tough fighter, captured the imagination of the public with her gutsy displays at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).
Yesterday, she lost the gold-medal match to China's Gu Yuting, but in the process won the hearts of many.
It has been 16 years since the STTA adopted China-born Jing Junhong, who received her Singapore citizenship in 1994.
But Isabelle, who lives in a four-room HDB flat in Woodlands, could be proof that the STTA's go-foreign-help-local policy is finally bearing fruit.
The idea sounded logical, given the dearth in local-born talents back then.
Train with the weak, and the athlete easily becomes complacent. Spar with the strong, and he or she can only improve.
It is why sports associations around the world spend millions of dollars to send their athletes to train with higher-quality opposition overseas on a regular basis.
More often than not, they return quicker, sharper and more astute.
STTA honorary secretary and youth development chairman Soon Min Sin described Isabelle as the top Singaporean table tennis talent since the retired Tan Paey Fern, the most well-known local-born paddler in recent years.
The intensive training programme over the past two years has toughened Isabelle up, Soon added. Indeed, she has participated in more than 20 competitions around the world and spent close to six months training overseas to prepare for the YOG.
But Soon also agreed that there are knock-on effects that the foreign paddlers have on the local-born athletes.
He said: 'The (foreign talent) scheme is a big help.
'She (Isabelle) often spars with China-born paddlers, and when you often play opponents of a higher level, you can only improve.
'The women's team's success in beating China in the final of the World Team Championships would have given her confidence, too.
'It showed young athletes like her that anything is possible.'
The STTA has about six China-born paddlers who spar regularly with players in the current national set-up, from the youth to the senior levels.
Tan can vouch for the positive impact of a successful foreign talent scheme.
Now a STTA youth coach, she said: 'It's a good thing, that goes without saying.
'I remember that during my time, I improved after training with better players such as Jing Junhong.'
Isabelle may not be the last local-born paddler you will hear of in the near future. Soon has also earmarked Clarence Chew, 14, Pang Xuejie, 17, and Zena Sim, 20, for bigger things.
With her fine showing, Li might just have provided the breakthrough that local-born athletes so badly needed.
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