Meet World Cup-predicting hamsters

As of July 9, Tiki and Taka have been spot-on on the full-time results of five out of six Hamster Cup matches they have played.

Tiki is a winter-white, pearl-coloured female, and Taka is a brown-backed, white-faced male.

In every episode of Hamster Cup, they each represent an opposing country and race in hamster balls. Rolling into the designated goal scores a point, and every match lasts for three minutes.

In their first appearance at Stadio Straits Times, the official stadium for the biggest sporting event in hamster history, Tiki and Taka first successfully predicted a win for Uruguay over England. 

Their winning streak continued with a draw at the full-time mark, for the fixtures between Portugal and USA, Brazil and Chile, and Argentina and Switzerland.

Unfortunately, they were thwarted by the German defeat of France in the quarter-finals. But after a good rest and a hearty meal of nuts, they got the Brazil v Germany semi-final right.

When they are not scurrying around the field, these star athletes cuddle up in their lush “private suites” for a little rest and relaxation. Tiki and Taka are housed in individual “five-star double-storey suites” in the comfort of the ST newsroom.  They are fed a highly nutritious diet of dried food such as diced apples, pumpkin seeds and mixed vegetables. Matches are only held once a week to give them time for ample rest.

Tiki is the media darling of the two, and is always eagerly waiting at the side of her cage to greet her fans. Taka is the more determined athlete. Always on form, he likes to train on his wheel to keep in shape.