A HIGH-FLYING pupil from a Ruthin secondary school has raised the flag for Welsh badminton on the international stage whilst receiving nine A*s in her GCSEs.

Carys Jones, aged 16, Year 11 pupil at Ysgol Brynhyfryd in Ruthin, joined the Badminton Wales squad at the Paris World Games, which welcomes thousands of top-performing young sportspeople from all over the world to the French capital in July.

Ms Jones qualified for the games after finishing third in the Welsh Ladies’ badminton national competition in April, which put her fourth in Wales’ girl’s rankings and in turn booked her place at the Paris games.

Whilst putting in the hours for her competition, Ms Jones was studying for her GCSEs - in which she received an outstanding nine A*s, three As and a distinction.

Ms Jones said: “For the two weeks before the games I trained for at least eight hours on the court and went to the gym as much as possible around revision classes for my GCSEs.

“I was quite nervous leading up to it as I had to spend a lot of time revising instead of training, but I was also very excited for the experience.”

In Paris, each round was a team event in which a Badminton Wales girls and boys squad played two singles and a doubles match – and beat every team they encountered.

Ms Jones said: “The toughest competitors were the Czechoslovakia team, however we won every single game we played.

“Finding out we had won was amazing, and we were all ecstatic, cheering as loud as could."

Ms Jones was joined by her parents who sat and watched on proudly.

Ms Jones added: “I knew the team was going to do well, but I didn’t think we would win it which made the win feel so much more exciting. By winning all my games I feel so accomplished and proud.”

Llinos Morgan-Roberts, celebration and enrichment officer at Ysgol Brynhyfryd, said: “Carys is an amazing all-round talent. She worked so hard for her GCSEs and has achieved amazing grades.

“To do all this and train for the World Games so successfully – what a phenomenal young lady! We are extremely proud and delighted for Carys’s success.”