Moray Table Tennis Club starlet Alexander Stepney (11) wins two medals on his Scotland international debut in Jersey and club coach Stephen Gertsen hopes the Mosstowie pupil’s performance will inspire others to take up the sport
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A schoolboy table tennis player marked his Scotland international debut with a medals double.
Moray Table Tennis Club youngster Alexander Stepney qualified for the Scotland team to play in a home international tournament in Jersey for primary age youngsters.
The 11-year-old Mosstowie Primary pupil has only started playing competitively little over a year ago, but impressed in his biggest tournament yet.
He defeated the Scottish number one player in his age group in the quarter-finals of the singles, before losing to the English number one in the semis and settling for a bronze medal.
The Moray starlet also shone in the team event, winning the majority of his games to help Scotland to the silver medal.
Moray Table Tennis Club founder and Scotland performance director Stephen Gertsen said Alexander rose to the big occasion in spite of his inexperience.
He hopes Alexander’s rise in fortunes can inspire other youngsters to pick up a table tennis bat with their local club, or join sessions at Moray College UHI every Thursday.
“I would say he embraced the occasion,” said Gertsen, who represented Wales in the Commonwealth Games in the past.
“You are never sure of how a young player will do at an international event, and I wasn’t sure of his level in that company. In terms of being number two at that age category in Scotland, you are never sure how he will fare.
“But with seven out of ten in the team event, that was great. Where he probably surprised me most was in the singles, getting a medal and beating the Scottish number one in the quarter-finals.”
Alexander took on team-mate Dean Robertson, who had defeated him in Scottish national meetings in the past year and was favourite to progress to the medal positions.
The Moray player dug deep to win an extremely close contest in the deciding set.
“He is the guy who beat him when he had to qualify for this event. Dean has beaten him a couple of times this season and he beat him in the final down in Bathgate 3-1 in February.
“But Alexander won 3-2 in the quarter-finals so that was a good win for him. It was a shame having two Scottish players playing each other but it means at least one of them would get a medal and Alexander did well to win the bronze.
“They worked well together in the team, they played doubles together and only lost one match so they are good team-mates and good friends.”
The eventual winner of the singles was top-ranked English lad Zaid Aldilimi, who defeated Alexander 3-0 and proved too strong for everyone in the whole competition.
Gertsen said Alexander’s medal double was testament to how much he has progressed in the sport in a short period of time.
“It is rewarding when you think two and a half years ago he could hardly hit the ball and needed a lot of work and attention,” he said.
“It took time but myself and plenty of other people were willing when he was at that beginner's stage to go on the table with him and have some patience.
“Now they don’t want to go on the table with him because he’s beating so many of them.
“It’s been a good club effort. He started at Moray Table Tennis Club at the college and now goes and trains in Inverness as well with myself and others at the club.
“We do want more youngsters at the club and that’s what we are hoping to attract over the summer, when we start back fresh after the summer break.
“Alexander is an example to show where you can get to if you commit to something. We have good coaching and good opportunities at the club in Moray and the Highlands to play table tennis.
“That wasn’t here before but there’s chances to go and play and beat some of the better players in the home nations if you put into it what Alexander has.
“Seeing how far he has come is really rewarding as a coach. It’s often the hardest thing to do, bringing a player on from grassroots level to where he is now.
“There’s still a long way to go but hopefully he will stick at it for many years to come. That is the aim, not just be happy with what he has achieved but to keep aspiring to do a little bit more and keep progressing each year as well.”
Moray Table Tennis Club stage sessions for all ages and abilities at Moray College every Thursday between 4.30pm and 6pm.
