A Shropshire badminton starlet has that top of the rankings feeling.

Jessica Pugh is currently one of the best performing under-12 players in the country and ranked the No 1 under-13 doubles player in England.

So it’s no surprise the 11-year-old has now been selected to represent England in her first international tournament in April in Belgium.

Having attended an England National Training Camp last month, she is also looking forward to the English National under-13 Championships at Milton Keynes National Badminton Centre on March 22-23.

Her success has been rewarded with selection onto the World Class Start Programme run by Badminton England.

The aim of the programme is to identify exceptionally talented young performers and give them a comprehensive basis on which to build future world class success. Jessica has performed exceptionally well this season and achieved great results above her age group.

In the under-13 National Gold Events run by Badminton England and under-15 Silver Events she has won a host of silver and bronze medals.

A pupil at the Chalton School in Wellington, Jessica trains twice a week at her High Performance England Training Cell at Birmingham University.

And there’s also once-a-week session with Ed Sutton, her personal advanced coach, at the Maurice Chandler Sports Centre at Tern Hill, near Market Drayton.

She also trains with and represents Shropshire Junior Badminton Club at both under-13 and under-17 level.