by Tyrone Evelyn

BROTHERS Trevor and Kevin Farley will be defending their respective "A" Class and Islandwide titles when the Barbados Table Tennis Association's (BTTA) national championships begin at the Table Tennis Centre, Nursery Drive, Constitution Road, next week.

Trevor and Kevin are among over 70 players entered for the nationals, which get under way with the Intermediate Division on Tuesday before the "A" Class competition serves off at 7:30 p.m. next Thursday.

The "B" Class will start a day later on September 29, at the same time and venue, and BTTA is hoping the Barbados Light & Power will continue their sponsorship of the nationals this year.

The Farley brothers dominated last year's nationals, with Trevor and Kevin reaching the final in both the "A" Class and Islandwide championships, as well as the men's doubles.

Trevor defeated his younger sibling in four sets to take the "A" Class title and the gold medal, but Kevin reversed the result by beating the former in five sets to land the Islandwide title and the gold medal.

The brothers also teamed up to defeat Clifton Mark and Dyson Benskin in the men's doubles.

In the "A" Class, Anderson Carrington and Mark Dowell finished third to share the bronze medal; while the bronze medal in the Islandwide was shared by Robert Roberts and Abbie Clarke.

In addition to defending the "A" Class and men's doubles titles, Trevor will also be defending the mixed doubles title as well.

He teamed up with Sherrice Felix to win the mixed doubles by beating Mark Dowell and Angela Reid in the final.

Judging from performances in the BTTA's Division 1 tournament this year, it is expected that the nationals will be very competitive with any one of a number of players from among Trevor and Kevin Farley, Roberts, Clarke, Carrington, Dowell, and Shannon Doughlin capable of winning either one or both titles.

Sherrice Felix will be defending the women's crown, having won the gold medal last year by defeating former champion Angela Reid in a
hard-fought final. Tara Burrowes and Nicole Alleyne shared the bronze medal.

Rawle Husbands, who defeated Koryn Steinbok, the girls' Under-15 champion, in the Intermediate final last year, will now have to compete in the "A" Class and Islandwide competitions.

Dario Murray and Frederick Adamson shared the Intermediate bronze medal. Husbands will also be defending the master's title which he won last year.