Table Tennis- Bertie bosses it for Bribar

Feb 6 2008 By Bob Brown, Birmingham Mail

STEVE Bertie, Sarah Riach and Jack Williamson won the major titles at the Birmingham Closed Championship, as the Kingshurst Bribar club dominated the event which was staged at the Wood Green Centre, Wednesbury.

Bertie beat clubmate and No.2 seed Scott Prime in a final that saw title-holder Prime race to a two-game advantage before Bertie produced the power that took the crown.

England cadet-ranked Williamson had a shock win over No.1 seed Ian Ferguson (Curdworth), while Warwickshire champion Mike Browne lost to Colebridge newcomer Mohammed Khalid.

Riach beat Kingshurst colleague Helen Turner 15-13 in the decider, in a pulsating ladies singles final.

Williamson picked up both the junior and cadet events, with final wins over Nabil Khalfey (Sutton) and Ian Anson (Baverstock) respectively.

The Williamson/Alan Caffery combination clinched the men's doubles, with a final win over Ferguson/Andy Hare, with the youngsters also putting out Navinder Matharu/Edward Lynn (Colebridge) and Bertie/Browne.

Bertie won his second title in the men's Over-40s competition, while Martin Round (Sutton) Over-50s and Neil Wheatley (Colebridge) Over-60s were also successful.

Ferguson, Lynn and Sasha Grokhotov will again represent Birmingham in their Midland League clash against Stafford at the Colebridge club on Sunday (2.30pm).

Victories over Leamington and Leicester have put Birmingham in prime position to regain the title after a decade.