MORE than 100 people turned up for The New Paper (TNP) Cyber Challenge yesterday at the Funan DigitaLife Mall.But one teen stood out.

Dressed in a fuschia top, black pinafore, and black boots, 14 year-old Katherine Ten (left) turned a few heads at the male-dominated competition.She was one of 400 participants who pre-registered for this inaugural gaming competition organised by The New Paper. It began yesterday and will go on till Sunday, from 11am to 7 pm daily.

There are two main gaming platforms. On the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) platform, the game played today was the NBA Street Homecourt, with 44 teams of two players each competing.

On the Acer platform, eight teams of five members each took the challenge for Battlefield 2142, playing in qualifying rounds.

Katherine quelled any thoughts that girls should stick to shopping when she won two preliminary rounds at the Sony Playstation Room playing NBA Street Homecourt.

In the process, she qualified for today's quarter-finals.

She said it wasn't a problem being one of the few female competitors, as she had a partner in her brother, William Ten, 18, who was also in pink."None of my female friends play computer games, but I have my brother to accompany me," said Katherine Ten.

Despite spending up to eight hours daily on computer gaming, Katherine said her hobby for cyber gaming has improved her relationship with her family members.

"Even our mum is into gaming," she added.

Over at the Acer Cyber Lounge, there was a lot of shouting and gesturing during the playing of Battlefield 2142, when two teams of five members each, competed against each other.

The shouting resulted in a sore throat for Ivan Chin, 18, who is a member of the BF Factors.

"My voice is hoarse now, but it was worth it. I had to motivate my team, and I wanted to give them the feeling we were on a real battlefield, not just virtually," he said as his team made it to Sunday?s semi-final.

Father & child teams may still walk-in to register from 11am to 4pm tomorrow and 11am to 2pm on Sunday.

Winners will take home $13,000 worth of cash and prizes.

Sony is the presenter, Acer is the main sponsor and Electronic Arts is the co-sponsor for The New Paper Cyber Challenge.