LAWN TENNIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 293, 11 December 1929, Page 18

LAWN TENNIS.

LADDER ACTIVITY.

MANY MATCHES FLAYED.

(By HALF-VOLLEY.)

Bad weather again stopped all play last Saturday, and there was no play at any of the grass court clubs. All interclubs were again postponed, including the A grade, match between Onehunga and Remuera. It is not certain at the time of writing whether this match will be played next Saturday, December 14, or whether, it will be postponed until after Christmas to allow of the Univer-&ity-Parnell match being played at Stanley Street next Saturday.

Quite a number of ladder matches have been played during the last two weeks. Start, by defeating Griffiths in a closely-contested match,' takes the third place. Lamb beat V. R. Johns for the seventh place, after a three-set match. Subsequently Johns was beaten again for the eighth place by Morrison. Hubble successfully resisted Watkins' challenge for the eleventh position, winning at 5—7, 6—7, 6—3. Tom Clark defeated McKeown in two straight sets, and thus takes the fifteenth place. In a knock-out contest for the right to challenge the sixteenth player Potter has beaten Chalmers. On the doubles ladder Lamb and Clay narrowly missed beating Morrison and Rowlands for the fifth place. Several ladies' ladder matches have also been played, the most notable one being Miss Ramsay's defeat cf Miss Knight in two straight sets. Miss Ramsay thus moves up to the second position. Miss Marion Macfarlane, by -defeating Miss Newton, succeeds her in the eighth place. Misses Miller and Miller beat Misses Ramsay and Newton, who had challenged them for the second place on the doubles ladder. Remuera Club, Matches. The' Remuera Club's championship draw is, an illuminating document as regards the playing strength of that club. The men's singles event is divided into two sections, the A grade being restricted to the best sixteen players. In the first quarter of this section, A. C. Stedman should emerge into the semi-final; he should beat Lucas in the first round, and in the second should pr.ove too severe for Entwistle (who will probably account for Martin in the first round). The second quarter contains Griffiths, Milne, Lamb and Ohlson. Griffiths should come through here, though Lamb, if he would practise consistently enough, would trouble any player in Auckland. Bartleet, Robson, Watkins and Thomson constitute the third quartet. Bartleet is easy to pick here. The fourth quarter contains Sturt, Chisholm, Clark and Brinsden. Sturt should .beat O-'sholm, but the meeting of Clark and Brinsden will produce a good match, and anything is. possible when the winner meets Sturt.'

In the B grade section there are 38 entries. The event is a most open one, but C G; Bowden, D. G. Macfarlane, J. L. Gregory, J. Stedman, E. Tonks,

S. J. Robinson, B. Brownlee and J. N. Wilson seem, to the writer, to be the best choices. Curiously enough, they are all in the second and third quarters of the draw. The men's championship doubles has an entry of 24 pairs. Griffiths and Brineden in the first quarter of the draw seem to have a clear run to the semifinal, where they encounter the winner of Bartleet and Robson and Entwistle and Martin, provided that the lastmentioned pair survive their first-round encounter with Ohlson and Macfarlane. In the lower half of the draw, Stedman and Sturt appear certain to reach the final, and are the most likely pair to win the event. They may have to work hard against the Bowdens, and also when they encounter the winners of the match between Chisholm and Watkins and Robinson and Clark. The ladies' championship singles has an entry of 23 players. Miss Marjorie Macfarlane is certain to reach the semifinal, where she will probably meet Mrs. Scott-Watson. In the third quarter of the draw are Mrs. Shroff, Miss L. Robertson, Mrs. Napier and Miss Marion Macfarlane. The survivor of these will almost certainly meet Miss Ramsay in the semi-final. In the ladies' championship doubles I cannot see anyone beating the Macfarlane sisters in the top half of the draw. In 1 the second half it looks as if Mesdames Scott-Watson and Shroff will come through to meet them in the final, but there are several other pairs in the running, notably Misses Wilson and Robertson, Miss Kerr-Taylor and Mrs. Robson, and Mrs. Napier and Miss Ramsay. There are 19 entries for this event. Remuera has no combined doubles .championship—it is hard to say why. It seems rather a pity that an event that is a feature of the programmes of all theother leading clubs should be omitted from the programme at Remuera, particularly as the draw includes a combined doubles handicap event. In the handicap events both the ladies' and the men's singles are divided into two grades, in order to simplify handicapping. In the A grade men's event the handicaps run from owe 40 to receive 15, and in ; the B grade from owe 30 to receive 15. In the men's doubles the handicaps run from owe 40 to receive 15 3-6. * In the ladies' singles the range is from owe 30 2-6 to scr. in the A grade, and from scr. to receive 30 in the B grade. The ladies' doubles extend from owe 40 to receive 30, and in the combined doubles the range of handicaps is from "owe 40 to receive 30.

Holiday Fixtures. Local players are reminded of the following championship fixtures for December and January: — December 26-28—Auckland Championships, at Auckland. „-..-. December 26-30—East Coast Tournament. January 1-4 —Waikato Bast Tournament. January 1-4—North Island Championships, at Wanganui. , ■' . January 6-9—Manawatu Championships, at Palmerston North. January 7-11—Taranaki Championships, at New Plymouth. • *■' January 22-2S— Wairarapa Championships, at Masterton. V January 22-25— Wellington Championships, January elli 2 n !-2 0 9-flawke'a lay Champion- . aips..: at.. Danneviite. ..-•.:.•:■w - ■ _ January 27-February ;; 1-New Zealand Championships, at Wellington.

INTER-CLUB TENNIS.

AMENDED DRAW.

Owing to the weather having upset the inter-club certain alterations have been made, and all the matches that were to 'be played last Saturday, with the exception of Campbell Park No. 1 v. Bayfield, in the D grade, will be played next Saturday, weather permitting. The fixtures set down for December 14 in the original draw, with the exception of Parnell v. University in the A grade, will also be played. This means that the following matches will be played on December 14:—A grade: Remuera v. Onehunga, Stanley Street, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 9. C Grade: Seddonian v. Vauxhall, Stanley Street, 10 and 11. B grade: St. Helier's v. Mount Albert, Mount Albert. C grade: Otahuhu v. Birkenhead and Northcote, Otahuhu. C grade: Onehunga v. St. Helier's, St. Heller's Bay. C grade: United v. Mount Albert, United. C grade: -Y.M.C.A. v. University, University. D grade: Birkenhead and Northcote v. Prince of Wales, Birkenhead and Northcote. D grade: Aratonga v. Rawhiti, Aratonga. C grade: Pukeroa v. Bayfield, Bayfield. C grade: Campbell Park, No. 2, v. Prince of Wales, Prince of Wales. D grade: Mount Albert v. Edendale, Edendale. D grade: Ngataringa, No. 1, v. Nicholson Park, Nicholson Park. D grade: Campbell Park No. 1, v. Hallyburton Johnstone, Campbell Park. D grade: University v. Balmoral, Balmoral. The following matches will be played on December 21: — A grade: Parnell v. University, Stanley Street, 1, 2, 8, 4, 5 and 9. D grade: Te Papapa, No. 2, v. Otahuhu, Stanley Street, 10 and 11. C grade: Aratonga v. Auckland, Aratonga. C grade: 'Campbell Park, No. 1. v. Ellerslie Parish, Ellerslie Parish, D gr<o: Ngataringa, No. 2, v. Vauxhall (D glwe), replay to be played at .Ngataringa or Vauxhall, or half on each. The following matches are postponed:—University v. Mount Albert, in the C grade, which was to be played on November 23, will be played at Mount Albert on January 11; Onehunga v. Kawhiti, in the C grade, which was to be played on December 21 is postponed to a date to be arranged between the two clubs; Campbell Park, No. It. Bayfield, in the D grade, which was to be played on December 7, will be played at a later date. The two matches—Bayfield v. Unity. C grade, and Otahuhu v. Prince of Wales, C grade —which were to be played on December 21, at Stanley Street, are postponed to a later date; unless the clubs concerned can arrange to play on one of the other courts on that date. Campbell Park v. Birkenhead and Northcote in B grade, which was set down to be played at Stanley Street on December 21, may be played at Campbell Park on that date.