A 12-year-old table tennis ace from Bramhope will represent his country for the first time this summer after catching the eyes of the England selectors during a national competition.

Shayan Siraj, a year 7 pupil at The Grammar School at Leeds, will be playing for England at the Euro Mini Championships, which bring together the best table tennis players aged 11 and 12 from 31 countries across Europe.

A keen table tennis player since the age of seven, Shayan plays regularly for the Yorkshire regional squad and his school team, as well as representing Judean Table Tennis at club level.

Shayan earned his England selection for the Euro Mini Championships when he competed in two age categories at the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) Championships in Tipton.

His performance in reaching the under-12 semi-final and the under-13 quarter-final impressed the watching England selectors and was enough to net him a place in the England team for the Euro Minis.

Now in their ninth year, the Euro Mini Championships will take place at Schiltigheim in the Alsace region of France on August 23-25.

Travelling to France with Shayan will be his father and coach, Waseem Siraj, who said: “Shayan has indeed made us all proud because of his achievements in a relatively short space of time.

“My advice to him has always been, whether he wins or loses he should give his 100% and play with a 'never die' attitude and he should try to be a role model for others.”

Shayan has had valuable match practice in advance of the Euro Minis since the ETTA Championships. He was invited to play in the U12 UK Masters, a round robin competition over two days for the top 12 players in the country. He won nine out of his 12 matches, and was the only player to beat the top seed, James Smith from Kent.