Seven children from Preston won an international maths competition which was held in Mumbai on 28 December.

The children, aged seven to 15, represented the UK in the PAMA (Pan-Asia Mental Arithmetic Association) Global Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition.

They competed against 450 other students from 23 different countries. Ridhi Patel, 7, of Preston, won the Champion of Champions titles whilst the group also came away with 4 champion titles and 2 first runner-up titles.

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The children attend the ABACUS group in Preston which started at the Gujarat Hindu Society (GHS) seven were selected to compete.

Coach Kiran Thiru, who started the maths group travelled to India with the children and their parents.

Ishwer Tailor, president of the GHS said: “These fantastic students all study in local Preston schools and have achieved something incredible in their first global competition. 

“It is a huge achievement not just for the GHS, but for Lancashire.”

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The ABACUS group was started 4 years ago, to improve the maths skills of the young people who attended the Hindu Society.

Starting with only fifteen children, the numbers have now grown to forty, with those attending every Tuesday and Saturday.

The global competition, organised by a non-profit organisation, has been running for the last twenty years, including subjects such as mental multiplication, division, addition and subtraction.

The purpose is to allow the promotion and observation of abacus and mental maths skills from all countries.

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