Thirteen-year-old Honiton Community College Student Wallis and his acrobatic partner Tutcher – also 13 and a pupil at the Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis – took their most recent silver medal at the British Tournament in Stoke on Trent.

Their score of 27.05 put them just behind rivals from Heathrow Gymnastics Club and ahead of the bronze medallists from Horsham in Surrey.

“The boys performed excellently,” said high performance coach James Reddy, “showing strength of character after qualifying for the final in fourth position. They picked up their performance and increased their score in the final by almost a full mark. The routine included two new balances where Ashley balances on one hand on Buster’s head – something they’ve never performed before in a national competition.”

This latest result puts the boys in a strong position to be selected to trial for the European Championships, which take place in October 2013 near Lisbon in Portugal. “They still have a great deal of hard work to do over the next four months, even to be selected to trial,” added James, “and will have to improve their average score by more than a full mark for each routine. I’m confident that they will put in the hard work that is needed though and add some more moves to their repertoire that will not only help them stand out from the crowd but also increase the difficulty of their routines.”