Two Epping students will go for gold at the Jack Petchey London Schools’ Individual Table Tennis Competition, having won the Essex qualifying tournament.

More than 80 boys and girls from 31 schools competed in under-13 and under-16 categories.

The under-13 boys’ competition was won by Adam Alibhai, of Chigwell School, while the under-16 girls’ contest went to Mabel Shute of Roding Valley High School.

The winners qualify for the competition finals on April 24, where they will be joined by the qualifiers from five London areas. Before that, the Essex qualifiers will also compete at the Butterfly Schools National Individual Finals, in Wolverhampton on April 2.

Adam, 11, said: “It was a good competition, quite comfortable as I only dropped one set. I was well prepared and ready. At the finals, I want to represent my school, do well and give it my all.”

Mabel, 14, said: “I hadn’t played a lot of the girls before, so it was good to get some different games against different people. I only dropped one set, so I was pleased overall.

“I was quite confident – I’ve been training a lot recently to prepare for the tournaments coming up. For the finals, I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, take it game by game and hopefully it goes well.”

The Jack Petchey Schools Table Tennis Championships is a partnership between the Jack Petchey Foundation and Table Tennis England to get more young people playing the sport at school for fun and also to compete. It comprises individual and team competitions which are open to boys and girls in full-time education in London and Essex. The partnership also includes the donation of indoor and outdoor table tennis tables to schools and youth clubs in London and Essex.