The prior B2 grain size of a Ti-22Al-27Nb orthorhombic intermetallic alloy has been successfully controlled to be in the range of 8-49 mum using a pinning effect of spherical alpha(2) particles against grain growth. The finest grained material showed an excellent combination of room temperature tensile strength (around 1000 MPa) and ductility (more than 15%). (C) 2002 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.