An eight-year-old Gozitan student bested over 20,000 students to win an international mental mathematics competition.

Currently in Year 3 at Karmni Grima Għarb Primary School, young Daniel Aquilina trained for months in preparation for the international competition, Supertmatik.

Originally a mathematical card game played in schools, the SUPER T uses concepts found in the card game to test students globally in their mental calculations at varying levels, timing them on how fast they can answer 15 questions.

Participants are split into categories that allow them to compete against students at similar levels of education. The higher the category, the harder the questions get as more concepts are introduced into the sums.

The competition was held online as students answered the quick-fire questions via a website hosted by the competition while their time was recorded.

In Daniel’s case, it took him just 33.35 seconds to answer 15 questions that primarily focused on addition and subtraction sums, topping category two by only 0.02 seconds.

“He was thrilled,” Daniel’s mother Yulia said about her son’s reaction to the winning time.

The results from Daniel's category. Photo: Facebook/SUPERTMATIK

“The fact that he was participating internationally, beyond Malta and Gozo, really excited him. The number of participants is so large that he immediately realised what a big achievement it was,” she said.

Rather than competing as an individual, Daniel was one of many participants representing Għarb Primary. 

In his category alone, three other students from his school made it into the top ten out of a total of 21,350 participants. Għarb Primary’s Julia Caruana came in ninth with only 1.02 seconds separating her from Daniel’s top spot.

While both Yulia and her husband Stefan are extremely proud of their son, they emphasised that, at their core, they want to see Daniel be happy and allow him to enjoy his childhood.

“But of course, such amazing results have a positive and lasting impact on their character and morale,” she said.

Keep it in the family

To prepare, Daniel practised daily, consistently firing off 20 attempts in 20 minutes, his mother said.

The training process began gradually as the school introduced the concept of the competition over the scholastic year, initially presenting it as a game.

“It becomes part of their daily work, which means that children get used to the actual process without any pressure.”

Parents were able to keep track of their child’s progress via an online resource that keeps track of their results and also compares their current results to that of previous years.

The Aquilinas are not strangers to mathematical prowess as their eldest son, Matthew, had previously finished first on two occasions at the same competition.

From left to the right, Daniel, Stefan, Yulia and Matthew Aquilina. Photo: Attivi Olga

In May, Daniel finished second overall at a maths competition hosted by the Gozo College which included many sections, one of which being a mental maths portion that Daniel claimed first in.

Asked how their sons’ interest in science began, Yulia said that she believes that the way Għarb Primary presents the subject is a major factor as they make it fun and practical.

“We are more of an artistic and sporty kind of parents, so certainly the boys did not get their interest in science and maths from us,” she said with a smile.

Apart from mathematics, Yulia said that Daniel has many passions and hobbies including painting, music and attending a karate dojo.

“We try to expose him to as many things as possible so he can choose where his passion is.”

Yulia also noted how impressive Għarb Primary’s results were at this year’s competition as the school came first in three categories in total.

Meanwhile, Malta finished at the top of the competition’s country rankings as every category saw at least one Maltese student make it into the top 10.