WRESTLING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 66, 18 March 1910, Page 6

WRESTLING.

■/ n- ■*■*.■—■■»{.'.(■* ■».■■.. - .- : -.id THE ATTTAIVrRTtATTnTTRTSTAMENT. ';. • .-j- ' ■ ■■;■' ..-. ..• ■. ■-: -.• ' ~-:z (Prom Our Special . Correstwndent.} * '; . -.: .- LONDON, February 4. "■'. ' One of the .chief spprting attractions in -London during ,t'b.e,,past fortnight has been the professional eateh-as-catch-ean ; wrestling championship" tournament at the Alhambra. .-».;- This tourney attracted entries from aVU.parts o£ the-world, and the weedingout process was, a. lengthy one, Some of the competitors'knocked, out in, ; the, early stages must, have .mistaken the. tournament for.a sort pf kindergarten class iii wrestling,-fop.it was .evident".that' they J were quite .ignorant of the gentle' art of 1 putting on or .breaking a lock. _ Many } pf_ ;._ these ' would-be, champions . 'were J thrown before, they -had beenoji the'mat i half .a minute, and one actually succumb!ed six seconds, af fcef ihe, handshake.J S In the later "stages-, there were some very prolonged and punishing bouts, especially in. the lightweights 41 Ost' Gibs) and the middies (12st).' In the Matter even your old friend Buttan Singh liact a "fairly easy-progress till, in- the sefnf-fmar round -he came across Frank' Crozieiy'a 'Jamaican' nigger, ".who Yon the micWlcs ■""••'■. r,. - v', ■ ' Singh, who'is'said 1 " in'h}S'4sta' year;, is a wonderfully resourceful wrest- ' ler, .and in his various bouts gave "proof ! of a vastly ■ greater fund- of j strength and stamina than 'his'-somewfiat attenuated frame, suggested. • To Gfdiaer', a tall, muscular man, the Hindoo "v;a3 conceding ; a soo,& deal of weight, btit -he was, aggressive .fr'p.m the start, and" quick- ! ly impressed his .'opponent with "the fact that he was a very dangerous customer. Crozier, indeed,, was .qi<ite content t6 j)lay the part of passive. resjater for over j three-quArters of .'.hour, during -which I period, j>fe"Hipdpo that be' was i the i nigger's; rpagter at . every joint of the game save actual. strength/. 8b ■minutes the pair, contested, Singh beiriir on. .top . for nine-tenths .of the time, and lon .several pecasions nearly securing "a I fall. The spectator,*, became very re'stiv«, and, npt ; ,a-pprei;ia.ting' the, niggex purely defensive., ,tac,tics, they, :at first, booted the black vigorously. Then they became resigned, and amused themselves by singing snatches of "Put Mc In My, Little Bed,? and. ''whistling the "Dead March." Afc the-end of 80. minutes the referee intervened, and .postponed the continuation of the struggle till the morrow. ■.-. ... ■ .: . .-':■■ The next meeting produced another tedio,us ,• struggle, Singh-snga4n....doirig - .'-ils •per- , of an easy_. , winner of the paisive' resistance stakes. Finally Singh caught his opponent napping, and with an armhold and reverse body roll secured a fall, to the manifest delight of the audience, after nearly 2$ hours' wrestling. In the . second bout Singh again did most of the hard work, and created no ■ end of excitement by the way lie handled the nigger. On three or four occasions during the first half-hour he all but j pinned Crozier down, and.every time the I black tried an aggressive movement the i Hindoo met it with a counter-move which placed Crozier in danger. The latter then reso»ted to purely defensive tactics, and ignoring the referee's warn-ing-to~"do some"jvuridfz.'TCses'disqualified after the bout Lad gone 8.6 minutes. On the same"day'another, "old friend" in : the _shape:_ojLfEgieX- Bannon met ; his' Waterloo - in the :middles, -.being "by"Bob Berry,' of- r: Wigan, : in less-'than' 5} minutes. Bahnon; who has not-.fully! Recovered from the effects of an opera-! tion for appendicitis, had to. take. a. flying leap into .tjiV/orchestra jdurin.g the boiit in order to .escape falling ..on the footlights. _' He. a striick a ' chair .with his side, and iosir>g., the first, fall retired.' -'••'—' ' '. The meeting between Berry.and Buttan Singh in ' thej' final heat was brimful of .excitement and good things. " The Hindoo took the -mat feeling the effects of his prolonged tussle with Crozier, and Berry, strong as .-a lion, "and half his opponent's age, los,t no time in forcing the pace. First, one and then the other gained the advantage, and once they took a header .off the stage.into, the orchestra, .where they continued to work hard for a, fall, .till' the referee parted then! arid sent them 'back''to' the" mat.' Here - ,they."cpn.tinued. .their ..strenuous work, the "white hian" having a good deal the best of fit, and compelling Singh,to act mainly .on the defensive. ■ Berry showed tremettdius'"speed and power, and i never relaxing his efforts, gradually wore' his dusky rival, down. . Finally, with a lightning movement, lie secured a splendid armhold, and, 'levering Singh " over, ! pinned him downy-after tie bout .had gone 29 minutes 20 seconds. ' " | ■■ TSTegotiatioris ai'e~now. in progress .for another wrestling' match between E- J. Scott, "the well-known New Zealander and Alex. Bain,' the 'Scottish exponent. It is generally 'admitted that Scott was greatly Handicapped'in .connection with tTte> recent? contesfc"-'at Stratford in that Bnm wSs-bnly -required;' to acflstrictly on >tue : uefen_sivc tliFoigliput.' SQpl,t proposes "that in 'the* nexf "nmM"Victory j should the winder of the first two out of tiireo.fcirs, and it r is 'prqbable that -Bain-will 'accede' io his wish in that regard. - According to the "Sydney Referee," Bain-has Expressed his willingness to meet "Clarence Weber, who defeated , Jas. McMurao, of Scotland, for the heavy-weight'championship Australia. -...", •_ *■ . .