Young stars with huge talents - 22nd January 2024

Young stars from the UK are impressing the world with their amazing abilities.

Despite being just eight years of age, Bodhana Sivanandan’s just won the title of best female player at the European ‘blitz’ chess championships. She successfully beat an international master in one match, and then drew in her game against a grandmaster.

With matches lasting three to five minutes in blitz chess, split second decisions can mean the difference between winning and losing. Sivanandan deals well with the pressure, commenting, “I always try my best to win, sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t”.

With a similarly laid-back attitude, Luke Littler’s battled his way to become the youngest person to reach the World Darts Championship. The 16 year old explained how he’d approach the big day, saying “I'll go for my ham and cheese omelette and then come here, have a pizza and then prep on the board."

And then there’s Teddy Hobbs, a young brainbox who’s been accepted into the Mensa society. After teaching himself to read aged two, by five he’d gone on to score in the top two percent on IQ tests, joining other geniuses in this exclusive club. Times tables and counting to 100 in six languages are just two skills Teddy had mastered prior to starting school.

While such youngsters might be granted far more opportunities and receive greater encouragement than their peers on account of their exceptional talent, they frequently feel socially detached from them.

A recent survey by charity SportsAid, which guides developing young athletes, revealed that nearly half of these children struggled with poor mental health. This mirrors what superstar athletes Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, and Michael Phelps have said regarding their own anxiety and depression.

However, every young talent’s an individual and when asked if she gets cold feet during competitions, Sivanandan replied, “No, I just play the board.”