Tsar is set to shine! Young Russian ready to take Midlands by storm.  Sasha Grokhotov has joined title-chasers Curdworth. He is set to take the Birmingham table tennis league by storm after his arrival via Kazakhstan and Siberia. The 18-year-old sensation, nicknamed "The Tsar" by Barnt Green team-mates after a host of man-of-the match awards in the British League, is the hottest property in the West Midlands.

Now he will be playing in Birmingham after being recruited by former champions Curdworth, who are bidding to regain top spot from current title holders Kingshurst Bribar.
 

Grokhotov was born in the former Soviet republic Kazakhstan and moved to Siberia with his family as a youngster where he was enrolled in a state sports school.. "Table tennis and skiing were the main sports at the school," said Grokhotov.  "I enjoyed the skiing but fell in love with table tennis when I saw the Russian No.1 Andrei Mazunov at a tournament when I was eight.

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"Having obtained his autograph, he practised with me for a while and I was hooked."
 Grokhotov moved to England when he was 11 after his mother remarried and is in his last year at Bromsgrove High School, where he is also an accomplished athlete with long runs over the Lickey Hills near his home as part of his training.  "When I leave school in June, I intend to take a gap year and play on the national tournament circuit," added Grokhotov.
 "There I will be against the best players in England and see just how far I have to go to match them."
 

In the 2006/7 season  has beaten some of the top players in the area, including the highly rated Paul Savins.  For Barnt Green he had a superb 24/28 aggregate in the British League and has been rewarded for his efforts by a place in the Worcestershire first-team squad for the forthcoming season.

"Sasha has a high tempo, high risk game but he is learning all the time and he could go a long way in the sport," said Barnt Green captain Ian Scott.

 
 It is a great boost for the Birmingham competition to get such an outstanding young player on board, providing a real challenge to the talented Kingshurst players, such as current Warwickshire/Birmingham champion Scott Prime, Steve Bertie, Michael Browne and Co.
 Birmingham Association chairman Dean Hicks is thrilled with the acquisition. After facing the lightning fast skills of the youngster in a practice session at the Hall Green club he said: "Sasha is just the type of young player we are trying to attract to the league.
 

"It was terrific to see the likes of Steve Bertie returning last season and our aim is not only to attract back former players, but invite leading individuals from other local leagues to play in our competition as well.
 "We want to get back to the glory days of the 1970s when Birmingham was the top league in England."