Every morning for two years, Deng Rongrong woke at 7 am to begin another day's work on her "heroes" - 108 cut paper portraits of Chinese table tennis champions.

The 72-year-old former table tennis coach from Guizhou province devoted more than 11 hours a day perfecting the album, which she calls The Glory of National Sport.

Deng, who had no previous art experience, took up paper cutting as a hobby after retiring in 2009. Tutored by other artists, she began with simple designs such as fish and butterflies.