With amazing video: Aylesbury's speedy cup stacker Jamie, 12, earns British call-up for world champs

12 year old Jamie Franceschini who will be representing Great Britain at the World Cup Stacking Championships in Germany

Jamie Franceschini, 12, who attends The Grange picked up the sport from YouTube and now spends almost all his free time practising his new-found love and improving his time.

All his hours spent stacking cups have paid off as he has been selected to represent his country at the World Championships in Germany.

Jamie’s mum Kate said: “He watched videos on YouTube and got into it that way.

“He asked me to buy him lots of plastic cups and I did because I thought it would be one of those things that would only last six months or so before he got bored.

“After six months he found out about a competition in Kent and he went as a spectator.

“Somebody dropped out and he got in and won the event.”

Cup-stacking was first played in the United States in 1981 and has always been recognised as a sport.

It involves competitors stacking plastic cups in set sequences either against the clock or an opponent.

Mrs Franceschini added: “It completely surprised us how good Jamie was at it.

“He practises every day after school for two to three hours and for most of the weekend.

“Everyone that we talk to about it thinks what he does is really cool.

“When we show people the videos they think we have sped them up!”

One of the competitive sequences in cup-stacking is a cycle which involves 12 cups and putting them in three different sequences.

The world record for the cycle is five seconds.

Jamie said: “My fastest time is 5.724 seconds for a cycle, which means I’m 0.724 seconds away from the world record.

“My schoolfriends think I am a bit mental!

“It is the best feeling ever to represent Great Britain so I will be doing extra practice.

“My target is to try and win a medal.”

The Franceschini family, who live in Chiltern Street, Aylesbury, received further good news this week as a sponsor came forward and offered to fund their trip to Germany.

Jamie’s dad Paul said: “We would like to thank Ricky Syphas from RS Roofing for his offer of sponsorship.

The competition takes place in Speichersdorf on April 2.