SPORTS TOPICS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 44, 1 December 1938, Page 3

SPORTS TOPICS

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS (“By Flagpole.”) To-morrow Evening. Boxing—Foster v. Adams. Saturday. Cricket Competitions. Tennis Competitions. Bowling!: Town v. Country. Croquet. Swimming: Allenton Carnival. Saturday Evening. Swimming: Ashburton Carnival. Wednesday Evening. Swimming: East Ashburton Carnival. A Great Record. Mr It. L. Somers has been re-elected president of the Te Arolia Golf Club for the 29th year in succession. He was warmly congratulated by members at the annual meeting and accorded a special vote of thanks on the motion of Mr E, C. Wykes. A Remarkable Win. Playing at Helensville in the pennant bowling competition recently the Auckland skip, J. McPhail, had a remarkable win against the local team. His side was 14-0 down at afternoon tea, but eventually took the honours with a score of 17-16. Pearce’s Form. A report from Sydney states that the rowing, and particularly stroking, of Cecil Pearce, Australia’s champion sculler, is one of the outstanding features of the present season. He must be given' great consideration, it is stated, to a plaoe in the King’s Cup eight, perhaps in the stroke seat. A Woman Coach. Miss Bona Tong, outstanding women’s hurdler in recent years and Empire Games representative, has been coaching girls at the Hastings High School in running and hurdling. A good deal of success has attended her efforts so far and there are hopes that the standard will be considerably improved . Ponsford Retires. Test cricket lost a great exponent of the game when, after a highly successful season in England, W. H. Ponsford announced his retirement from first-class cricket, says a writer in a Melbourne paper. Since then he has been the mainstay of the Melbourne Cricket Club team in its four pennant successes. Now lie has deserted that field of activity, and will devote him-' self to coaching the juniors of his club. North Auckland Loss. One of the most prominent figures in Rugby in North Auckland, Mr Karl Ilwerson, has left the district and it is understood that he intends starting in business in Auckland. Mr Ilwerson was sole selector of the North Auckland representative team for the past three years and acted as coach during this period. Keen appreciation of his services was expressed at a recent meeting of the North Auckland Rugby Union.

Popularity of Cycling. The popularity of cycling in the Auckland Province is best illustrated by the latest figures appearing in the annual report of the New Zealand Amateur Cycling Association. Auckland is far in advance of any other centre with 514 registered riders, then follow West Coast (North Island) with 164; Wellington, 147; Canterbury, 108; Otago, 70; Hawke’s Bay 52. This gives a total of 1055 riders against 1009 for the 1937 year. Scarf Turns Professional. Eddie Scarf, light-heavyweight champion wrestler of the British Empire, and holder of the Australian title, has turned professional. Scarf has trained with the American wrestlers, Dean Detton, Bay Steele, and Paul Jones, who havo spoken highly of his ability. He lias been Australia’s outstanding amateur wrestler for a number of years. He competed at the Olympic Games in 1932 and 1936. He was third in the light-heavyweight division at Los Angeles in 1932.

Alterations in Itinerary. Several alterations have been made in the itinerary of the Australian athletes, G. Backhouse and E. Best, for their tour of New Zealand, commencing next month. A feature of the tour should be the meeting between V. P. Boot and Backhouse at Dunedin on January 14, both these athletes having several records to their credit. T. Allen will also help to make the meeting an outstanding one. Allen and Backhouse will meet at Dunedin on January 4 over the half-mile should the Australians appear there on that date.

An Unusual Incident. An unusual incident marked the play between Norman von Nida and C. Booth in the semi-final of the New South Wales professional golf championship this month. On the 25th green Booth put his third 15 feet beyond the hole with a chip shot and apparently with the idea of conceding the hole, he hit the ball with the club held in one hand. To his surprise, and that of the gallery, the hall rolled down for the halving four. It was one of the few good “putts” hv Booth throughout the meeting.

Encouraging Younger Competitors. Bv personal appearances in some of the smaller centres V. P. Boot, the British Empire Games and Now Zealand half-mile champion and recordholder, is doing something to encourage greater interest in the sport as well as the younger competitors. He returned south from Wellington last week after having competed recently at Nelson, Masterton and Wellington. Boot has other appearances in view, 10 or more, including a visit this week to Hamilton, and if possible, appear-

juices at Fairlie and Stratford. Hoot is keen to to Sydney lor the iNon South Wales championship in January, when he would in all probability .attempt to lower his half mile Empire Games record time of lm 51 l-ssec.