The WORLD of SPORT

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 306, 27 December 1928, Page 16

The WORLD of SPORT

SPORT OF 1928.

BRIEF SURVEY OF YEAR.

OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL

EVENTS. PASSING OF FAMOUS FIGURES. In field sport the year 1928 has been a fairly crowded one, with the Olympic Games, the Davis Cup matchcs, the world's heavy-weight boxing contest, and international golf and Rugby football as the chief features of interest. Practically sweeping the field events at the Amsterdam Games, added to considerable success in the sprint swimming contests, the United States athletes managed to capture most points, and retained their premiership in this respect, though unexpectedly relegated to second place in the sprint and middledistance track events by athletes from Britain, Canada and South Africa. In

distance running the Finns swept the board, their one failure being in the Marathon race, which was won by El Ouafi, an Algerian Arab of the French team. The star performers of the games were D. G. Lowe, Percy Williams, Weightman, Smith and Lord Burghley, of the British team in the track events; Borg (Sweden), Zorilla (Argentine), Charlton (Australia), Weismuller (U.S.A.), Miss Novelius (U.S.A.), and Fraulein Braun (Holland) in the swimming; Nurmi, Kitola, Larva and Loukola, of Finland, in the distance running, and Pearce (Australia) in the sculling. General dissatisfaction among the British and Americans with the control of the boxing events was expressed, and peculiarly enough it was in this section that New Zealand had its only success, E. Morgan, of Wellington, winning the welter-weight honours. During the course of the visit abroad one member

of the New Zealand team for the games, Stan. Lay, put up a record javelin throw at Stamford Bridge, but afterwards failed to produce, his average form at Amsterdam. Subsequently Lay's record was beaten by the Swedish champion, Lindquist. The French tennis players maintained their supremacy in the Davis Cup contest, in which E. D. Andrews and R. K. T. Young represented New Zealand successfully in the preliminary against Portugal, and then withdrew. Italy defeated Australia, but went down to America, who fought out the final with France. At Wimbledon the honours were carried off by the French and Americans. Miss Helen AVills carried otf the French, British and American titles in ladies' singles. Immediately after the Davis Cup final, W. T. Tiklen was suspended for a breach of the playerwriter rule, and is still debarred from taking part in amateur championship tournaments. In professional tennis championship tournaments were held in Britain and America, the former being won by Karel Kozeluh, who was later beaten tourney by Vincent

Once again the United States had taken the honours in international golf. Walter Hagen won the British open title, but T. P. Perkins retained the amateur title for Britain. In U.S.A. Johnny Farrell defeated Hagen for the Ainer ie a n open title, and Bobby Jones beat the Britisher, Perkins, for the American amateur honours.

The Aincriean team defeated the British team in the Walker (tip trophy. The American ladies' title went toGlenua Cullett, lint she failed in an attempt tu lift the liiiti-li ladies' title, which was wun by a tic mil lady, Aidlle. Le Blan.

Of special interest to New Zealand was the world's heavy-weight boxing contest, in which Tom Heeney, of New Zealand,

won his right to

challenge the champion, Gene Tunnev. The New" Zealander, however, was outclassed and defeated in the title bout, and Tunnev, having eniberged the winner with honours, announced his retirement £r o 111 the ring, while still the undefeated champion of the world. At the moment 110 successor has been decided upon.

Gene Tunney,

New Zealand also was concerned during the year in international Rugby ] Union and Rugby League football. For the first time in history an official New Zealand representative Rugby team visited South Africa to decide the claims of the two countries to Rugby supremacy. The New Zealanders experienced several set-backs, being defeated by two provinces, and losing the first and third Test matches by distinct margins. They managed to just get the win in the second Test, and then •"surprised the natives," by pulling ott' the fourth Test by a margin of ten points— honours even. A representative English Rugby League team visited Australia and New Zealand, winning two out of three Test matches in each country, though the margin of victory in New Zealand was very small. The English Channel swim has been accomplished this year by three persons, Miss Ivy Hawke, Miss Hilda .Sharp (both English girls), and the Egyptian swimmer, Ishak Helmy. During the year an association has been formed in England to control and accredit attempts to swim the Channel. Since he defeated Major Goodsell in America last December, H. A. Barry has been left in undisturbed possession of the world's sculling title.

International cricket at the nioincn holds the stage Two out of liv Test matches be tween England am Australia have beei played, and hav been won decisive); by England. Wit them two cricket ers have "arrived 1 as match-winner: —W. I\. Hammond the Gloucester bats man, and H. Lar wood, the Nott fast bowler.

With the outgoing of the year quite a number of figures have passed from

the limelight in the sporting world. Gene Tunney has retired undefeated from the world boxing championship; Douglas Lowe, holder of the world's halfmile running record, has retired; and

so has Paavo Nurnii, the '"tireless Finn," who holds a number of distance running records. W. T. Tilden. since 1920 the champion tennis player of the United States, slipped back from first to third place in the world tennis ladder, and then suffered further eclipse by his suspension. The brilliant Suzanne Lenglen, who created a sensation by taking to professional tennis in 1927, has definitely retired from competitive play. Thrc.' brilliant Australian cricketers in C. G. Macartney, Warren Bardsley and A. A. Mailey have retired from international cricket; and a fourth, Jack Gregory, the Australian fast bowler, was forced into retirement by injury in the first 'lest this month. The Olympic Games saw the eclipse of two American athletes wh"

were among the great stars the previous year in C. W. Paddock and Lloyd Halm. An Australian swimmer, too, who lias been famous, Andrew Charlton, has announced his retirement from international events. Mention of the Olympic Games brings to mind an important policy decision made this year in regard to sport. That is the decision to hold an Empire Sports meeting at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1930, with a vfew to instituting an Empire Sports' Federation, with periodic competitions in the various countries of the Empire. The proposal as yet is embryonic, but it may develop to considerable importafice, and have an influence on the representation of British .nations at the Olympic Games.