Like the famous Four Corners in The United States of America, Colebridge TTC has diverse, competitive interests in more than one of our local leagues.

Not least of these, this season, is a new team, in The Bromsgrove, Redditch And District Table Tennis League, the imaginatively named Colebridge Table Tennis Club, which has been neck and neck all Winter at the top of Division Two with a team from Barnt Green, The Panthers.

When these two teams met yesterday evening ( February 27th ) at Colebridge, a lively and engrossing encounter was guaranteed, a fact that was borne witness to by the number of spectators attending.

One of these spectators was Neil Wheatley, a Bromsgrove regular, who had been called upon to other match duties in Room Two , he was a frequent visitor, and playing in his stead was veteran troubadour John Overton. 

The first match of the evening was between Awais Muhammed, unbeaten all season after 45 matches, and Alasdhair Broadbent, a match which deservedly went Broadbent's way after three very close sets, as he held his nerve and took his chances. 

It was, perhaps more surprisingly, to be his only success of the evening, as he subsequently lost to both John Overton and Farooq Kakar, both in four sets. 

Farooq was Player Of The Match for Colebridge, holding his three with a combination of highly spun serves, followed up with devastating forehand attacks : tiring toward the end , the size of Farooq's personality matches his frame ,and  should he ever decide to devote himself more thoroughly to developing his nascent backhand, one can only wonder at the player he might become.

The most viscerally entertaining match of the evening was Awais' encounter with Kwok Ng , featuring a succession of away from the table counter top spinning rallies, an area of his game which Kevin ( Kwok ) has improved considerably recently, the amount of top spin he can generate with his conventional pen hold grip is a sight to behold. 

It was Kevin's edge in this area, as much as any other, which ensured his success in three hard fought sets.

This win left Awais looking a little crestfallen but he made an important contribution, if not to his averages, then to Colebridges eventual match win, with a singles victory over talented left-hander Julian Barnes and the crucial doubles point, which left Colebridge with their unbeaten record intact, and knocking on the door of Division One. 

Congratulations to all concerned, a most enjoyable evening.