Teenagers from Xiamen and the United States pose with their robots after taking the Teamwork Champion Award at the CREATE US Open Robotics Championship in Omaha, the US, earlier this month. [Photo/xmnn.cn]

Three students from Xiamen in Fujian province, with a combined average age of just 12, came top at the CREATE US Open Robotics Championship in Omaha, the United States, earlier this month.

The trio, named Simfuture Team XM, consisted of Chen Zihao, Sun Yun and Yu Chunyao. They entered the event's VEX IQ Middle School category and claimed the Teamwork Champion Award with their US counterpart, Great Minds Robotics (GMR).

It was the first time a team from Fujian province has taken the title.

The only qualified squad representing Fujian province, Simfuture survived eight knockout stages and was the second highest-scoring team to enter the finals. They joined GMR in 60-second-long teamwork games, where the two sides played on a roughly three-square-meter rectangular field and worked collaboratively to score points.

The Xiamen youngsters impressed the spectators with their accuracy and fluency in stacking, removing, parking and hanging the colored hubs in appointed areas, shared eye-catching teamwork by timely making up for GMR's mistakes, and finally clinched the Teamwork Champion Award.

The VEX IQ Middle School category is played on a three-square-meter rectangular field configured as seen above. Players are required to stack, remove, park and hang the hubs in appointed areas. [Photo/vexrobotics.com]

Judges gave a thumbs-up to Simfuture's performance, praising the smooth way the robots moved and the youngsters' skills in fast and steady scoring have reassured their US counterparts in entrusting them with the most difficult games.

Simfuture's Chinese tutor, surnamed Yang, said the youngsters have realized growth by overcoming difficulties in jet lag, language and pressure.

Nearly 1,000 teams from across the world participated in the CREATE US Open Robotics Championship this year, with roughly 70 of those coming from China.

The event was rolled out in six distinct categories, spanning all ages for different challenges. The VEX IQ Middle School category is designed to enhance students' science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills through robotics learning.