She ran to her full potential in the main race when she placed fifth behind four overseas rivals, and in the process set a Hongkong record.

She also set a 1,500 metres national record of four minutes and 35.37 seconds during the year to firmly establish herself as one of the territory's leading women's distance runner.

And she twice broke the Hongkong junior record for the 3,000 metres - clocking 10 minutes and 45.68 seconds in February and improved it by 4.38 seconds seven months later.

Other winners of under-19 sportsmen and sportswomen are swimmer Robyn Lamsam (see story below), tennis player Sven Koehler, triathlete Brian Bozarth, squash player Jackie Lee Chun-kit and gymnast Wut Fung-yin.

Tennis ace Koehler chalked up some outstanding international results, among which was reaching the last 16 at Junior Wimbledon in the summer.

The 18-year-old was ranked 13 on the International Tennis Federation junior singles world rankings at the end of last year but has now broken into the top 10.

He was the losing finalist at the Hongkong Junior Open Championships and semi-finalist at the Suntory Open and Japan Open.

Koehler, who studies at the German Swiss International School, is also a member of the Hongkong Davis Cup team.

Award-winner Bozarth was only considered ''one'' of Hongkong's leading junior triathletes at the start of 1992 but suddenly blossomed into the most outstanding in the last four months of the year.

The 17-year-old was the territory's top finisher at the Junior World Championships in Canada in September when he placed 74th overall.

He then produced his best performance at the Asian Championships less than a month later by clinching the junior crown with a personal best of 2 hours 8 minutes 31 seconds.

Hongkong International School's Bozarth continued to show marked improvement when in November he won the junior division of the Macau Sprint Championship, finishing third overall.

He is now one of Hongkong's leading ironmen and was named by the Hongkong Triathlon Association for the 1992 Most Improved Triathlete Award.

Fifteen-year-old squash player Lee also impressed last year when he led Hongkong to 12th position in the team event at the World Junior Men's Squash Championships.

Lee, the Hongkong national under-19 and under-16 champion, did tremendously well in the Seafford Squash Open in Australia, an event for Division One players, in which he made it through to the semi-finals.

The La Salle College pupil is also the local inter-school Grade B champion.

The most surprising winner of the Junior Sports Stars Awards was perhaps pint-sized gymnast Wut, also the youngest recipient at only 13 years of age.

Wut, however, has produced a string of impressive results during the year which included successes at international meetings in Thailand, Australia and China.

She won the all-round gold at the Thailand Open with a very good score of 37 points out of a maximum 40, and in the Australian Elite State Championships, Wut excelled on the balance beam, scoring 9.60 points on her way to a bronze medal.

The Jockey Club Ti-I College student again showed her versatility by winning three bronze medals at the Yunnan Invitational Meeting - in floor exercise, vaulting and uneven bars.

The competition for this year's awards was very close and leading contenders who lost out in the poll included fencer Lee Ling-woon, windsurfer Anthony Lau Chun-ho and rower Cheung Wing-chung.

Lee was considered one of the favourites on the strength of her gold medal win in the women's epee event at the Asian Youth and Cadet Fencing Championships in Thailand.

The 16-year-old epeeist is also the national under-20 champion.

Board-sailor Lau was also strongly fancied with victories in the youth division at several domestic regattas.

But it was at the year-end Hongkong Open Championships that the 18-year-old really impressed, finishing fourth overall behind internationally renowned sailors like 1988 Olympic champion Bruce Kendall of New Zealand.

Sculler Cheung was also considered a top contender for one of the awards as it was the second year in succession he brought home a medal from the Asian Junior Championship.

But one ''loser'' who bears watching in future sports stars awards is squash player Rebecca Chiu Wing-yin, a 14-year-old Jockey Club Ti-I College student.

Chiu has improved by leaps and bounds in the past year and is an established junior player in Asia, finishing third at the Asian Championships last month in which she lost to older girls from Singapore and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, table tennis player Chai Po-wa scooped three prizes in the Open division for being Hongkong's most outstanding sport star of 1992.

China-born Chai, ranked seventh in the world in singles, was one of the six winners in the open category but was also named Sports Star of the Year for garnering the most individual votes.

Her third trophy was for winning the Team of the Year Award with Chan Tan-lui and Chan Suk-yuen. They captured the women's team crown at the Asian Championships in New Delhi.

Chai is undoubtedly the most celebrated of Hongkong's sportsmen and women as it is the fifth year in succession she picked up the sports stars awards.

Her partner Chan Tan-lui also captured one of the individual prizes, the fourth straight year she has won an award.

The other four Open category winners were windsurfer Lee Lai-shan, mountaineer Cham Yick-kai, wushu exponent Lee Fai and squash player Faheem Khan.

Board-sailor Lee, winner of the top award in 1991, successfully retained her Asian title and is currently ranked No 1 in the world after winning two major regattas towards the end of last year.

Cham was the first Hongkong citizen to reach the summit of Mount Everest while Lee won her award on the strength of her gold medal cudgel performance at the Asian Wushu Championships.

Pakistani squash player Faheem brought Hongkong glory by winning individual titles at the Asian and East Asian tournaments. He is ranked 24th in the world and No 3 in Asia, behind his legendary compatriots Jansher Khan and Jahangir Khan.