Shanghai: A driving rain with the possibility of a thunderstorm did little to dampen the spirit of 16 hearty youngsters who participated in the third leg of the 2008 Silport Junior Tournament.

With the youngest participant only eight years old, the kids were divided up according to their ages in Groups A, B, C and D. All played 18 holes over the North and West courses, except that of Group D, those eight years and under, which played nine holes.

As testament to the rise of junior golf in Shanghai, even with the inclement weather, there were still some fine performances from the youngsters. Among the boys, Tim Aubrie registered a gross 88 to win Group A (14-17 years), just ahead of runner-up Zhao Peiyun (90) who also claimed a nearest-the-pin prize.

Zhang Dongning won group B (11-13 years) with a round of 100, while Zhu Junxi was runner-up, two shots back. Zhu Ailun took the group C (9-12 years) title with a 96, with Wu Suowei (99) runner-up. Zhu Ruiqi shot 83 over nine holes to top group D.

Not to be outdone by the boys, Huang Yiyi shot the low round of the day with an impressive score of 85 to win group B girls, well ahead of Zhang Xinyu at 109. Other honors saw Cheng Yiqing (115) win group C and Ye Lei (65) dominate group D with both the low gross and the girls’ nearest-the-pin prize.

At the prize presentation party following the tournament when all the players got a chance to warm up, Silport presented five special prizes to the youngsters for their brave performances in the rain.