After five days of intense competition against the best mathematicians in his age group, 17-year old Filipino high school student Julian Yu won the top prize in the recently concluded World Mathematics Championships in Australia. The competition, held at Trinity College, University of Melbourne, involved new challenges including debating, data mining and proof rounds.

Yu—who represented the Philippines and his school, British School Manila (BSM)—was previously a finalist in the Philippine National Olympiad, and crowned Senior Individual Champion at the South East Asia Mathematics Competition (SEAMC). The SEAMC is the top international school competition in the region, where BSM has likewise been the overall champion for two years in a row.

“It was a great honor for me to represent the country and my school,” said Yu. “This achievement would not be possible without the support and guidance of my family, the BSM faculty, and my teammates. I am happy that a good number of my fellow BSM students qualified for this year’s World Mathematics Championship, and I look forward to seeing them in future competitions.”

At present, Yu is now back at BSM for his final year of high school and is planning to continue his mathematical career at a top university.