GYMNASTICS: MELANIE Roberts' dream came true this week when she was named in the Great Britain squad for the World Championships in California later this month.

The 15-year-old Saltney schoolgirl, who is still ranked as a junior, flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday as reserve for the senior team, headed by Bunbury's Beth Tweddle, the overall British champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist on asymmetric bars.

Melanie, who goes to St David's High School, clinched her place with another impressive trial at Lilleshall on Saturday, when she helped the British team beat Israel.

Beth (ankle) and Nicola Willis of Essex (stress fracture) were given wild cards for the championships after being unable to play a full part in all three trials because of injuries.

'I can't really believe it,' said Melanie. 'It hasn't sunk in yet.

'I thought I had done well enough at Lilleshall last weekend, but I am one of the youngest to be considered for the British senior team, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a long wait before I heard I was in.'

The first thing she did when she was told was to phone her parents, Coyle and Paula.

Her dad, who has a hairdressing salon in Saltney, said: 'It's fantastic news. We opened a bottle of champagne when we heard.

'We are very proud of her. She has worked so hard to get this far and it will be an amazing experience for her.'

One of her Liverpool Gymnastics Club coaches, Amanda Kirby, who has accompanied the British squad to Anaheim, was just as delighted.

She said: 'She had a great start to the year, doing well in junior internationals in Canada, but then she had a few injuries.

'She has got her rhythm back at the right time and even if she doesn't compete in the championships, it will be an invaluable experience.'

Melanie came 13th in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and was last year's Northern European champion on bars. This year she was third overall in the British Junior Championships and second on bars.

The injury-depleted British squad have to finish in the top 12 in the championships, which run from August 16-24, to send a full team to the Olympic Games in Athens next year.

If they fail as a team, only two gymnasts will be able to go to Greece - the coveted places will be decided in trials next year.

Mrs Kirby said: 'It is always hard at this level, but this will be particularly diff icult because of our injury problems.'

At Lilleshall, Beth did only a bars routine without her normal dismount to protect her ankle, which is getting better every day.

She said: 'I will certainly be doing the bars and the beam in the championships, but we will decide later if I can do any more.

'It depends on how my ankle feels. I am having physio every day and there are three weeks to go, so I hope I will be fully f it by then.'

At the end of the competition, she will be staying in California for a holiday - well-deserved after a busy year which included her A-level exams at The Queen's School.

There is another Cheshire gymnast in the squad - Rebecca Mason, of Sandbach.