Elgin High pupil and Moray Table Tennis star Alexander Stepney (12) set for second Scotland cap in international tournament after impressing in national event
A Moray schoolboy has qualified to play for Scotland’s table tennis team at an international event for the second year running.
Elgin High pupil Alexander Stepney (12) has been playing the sport competitively for little over two years but is already one of the best in the country for his age.
Last year he qualified as a primary school pupil at Mosstowie and a strong performance in his first time at the Scottish Secondary Schools Championships in Bathgate earned Alexander another Scotland place.
He is a member of Moray Table Tennis Club, with sessions held at UHI Moray every Thursday.
At the national schools tourney, the top four players in each age group gain selection for an international schools event held in Jersey in June, involving the best players in the British Isles.
Alexander lost out to his friend and long term rival Dean Robertson, who was undefeated in winning the under-14 boys section.
The next three places were decided by a countback with Alexander just edged out of second place, but comfortably in the top four to earn his spot in Jersey.
It will be his second Scotland cap, his first coming at the British primary schools championships last year when he won a team silver medal as well as a bronze in the singles competition.
Alexander trains in Moray and Inverness each week, coached by former Welsh international and Commonwealth Games player Stephen Gertsen, who has been a coach for all of the home nations in his career.
Gertsen remembers Alexander barely being able to hit a table tennis ball when he first started the sport three-and-a-half years ago.
The Moray club caters for all ages and abilities and play at UHI Moray every Thursday between 4.30 and 6.30pm.
