Golfer Ariya Jutanugarn and shuttler Ratchanok Intanon have been two of the fastest-rising athletes on the international stage.
Ratchanok Intanon
Coincidentally, both were born in 1995 _ Ratchanok on Feb 5 and Ariya on Nov 25 _ and are nicknamed 'May'.
The teenagers are Thailand's most talented young athletes, who could become queen of their sports in the near future after leading the world at junior level.
Ariya, 17, won a number of junior titles, including the 2011 US Girls Junior Championship and the 2010 US Women's Amateur Public Links.
She was also the low amateur at the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship and ended her amateur career by winning her second consecutive AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year award in December.
Ratchanok was the youngest ever badminton player to win a world junior title with her triumph in 2009, when she was 14. She went on to become the first shuttler to secure three successive world junior crowns with wins in 2010 and 2011.
She also reached the quarter-finals at the 2012 Olympics and was runner-up at the All-England Open earlier this month.
Ariya learning hard lessons
Ariya shot to fame in 2007 when she became the youngest player to qualify for an LPGA Tour event.
The Bangkok native finished first in the last qualifying round for the Honda LPGA Thailand at Khao Khiew Country Club in Chon Buri.
Ariya was aged 11 years, 11 months and two days when she teed off at the Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club in Pattaya.
Following a glittering amateur career, Ariya finished first in the Ladies European Tour (LET) qualifying school in December and began her professional career last month.
She has taken the world by storm with two runner-up finishes in her first few weeks as a professional.
Ariya made a promising start with a second-placed finish at the LET's season-opening Volvik RACV Ladies Masters in Australia.
A few weeks later, she came so close to becoming the first Thai to win an official LPGA event. Holding a two-shot lead with one hole to go at the Honda LPGA Thailand, she cracked under pressure with a triple-bogey and lost to South Korea's Park Inbee by one shot.
The teenage star burst into tears and was consoled by Moriya, her 18-year-old sister, who is an LPGA member.
"I have learned a lot from the tournament. I will put the disappointment behind me and move on," Ariya said after the final-hole collapse.
She soon forgot the disappointment and finished fourth at the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore the following week.
She earned more than six million baht in prize money from her first five professional events and also got a CRV for her hole-in-one at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Ranked outside the top 200 in the world at the start of the season, Ariya move to 40th after the HSBC Women's Champions.
Her father, Somboon, believes his daughter needs a qualified caddie to help her.
"She had four different caddies in her first professional events _ all of whom were not good enough," Somboon said. "Without a qualified caddie, she was often at a disadvantage when she had to make a crucial shot."
But he admitted that it was not easy to hire a professional caddie who can travel with her in every LET tournament.
"Moreover, a good caddie is expensive," Somboon said.
Ariya will have golf lessons in the US when she is free from her LET assignments.
"I am still confident she will win at least one tournament in Europe this year," he said. "She is still young and can improve."
Ariya plans to meet Moriya in America in June for the qualifying event for the US Women's Open. She will also join the LPGA Q-school later this year after she was not allowed to compete there last year because she was too young.
Ariya is taking a two-week break before resuming her LET campaign at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco next week.
Morocco could be a good venue for her as she won the LET Q-school there.
Mental game vital for Ratchanok
Ratchanok's ultimate dream is to win an Olympic medal and she might have already claimed one at the junior level had she not been too young for the inaugural Youth Olympics in 2009.
She was then 14 and badminton players taking part in the Youth Olympics must be at least 18.
She came close to reaching the medal round at the 2012 Olympics in London when she won the first set against China's Wang Xin and built a considerable lead in the second in the quarter-finals.
But Ratchanok ran out of steam as the experienced Chinese taught her a few lessons, prevailing 2-1.
Now 18, Ratchanok has won four professional tournaments. She missed out on becoming the first Thai to win a title and the youngest winner at the All-England Open last Sunday when she lost to Denmark's Tine Baun in the final.
Instead, the 33-year-old Baun, who had previously beaten Ratchanok only once in four meetings, became the oldest All-England champion in the open era.
"I couldn't control myself. I felt very nervous," Ratchanok said after the defeat.
Kamala Thongkorn, her manager, who Ratchanok calls 'mother', said Ratchanok must improve her mental strength to become a better player.
"We need a psychologist to help May," said Kamala, who owns Banthongyord Badminton School, where Ratchanok stays.
"You also need experience but she will gain it. So at the moment she urgently needs a psychologist."
Because she is still young, Ratchanok sometimes struggles to handle the pressure in an important match.
"Her skill is second to none. On her day, she can beat anyone," Kamala said.
Rungsrid Luxitanond of Singha Corporation, which sponsors Ratchanok and Banthongyord Badminton School, agreed that the teenager needs a psychologist.
"She often looks vulnerable when she faces an experienced player. You can see it in her eyes," Rungsrid said.
Rungsrid also believes Ratchanok and Banthongyord need a new coach.
"I visited the school recently and asked them to hire a new coach," he said. "The present one has been there for a long time and they need a new dimension to their play."
Ariya Jutanugarn