LAWM TENNIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 16, 20 January 1931, Page 12

LAWM TENNIS.

APPROACHING AUCKLAND

CHAMPIONSHIPS.

SOUTHERN PLAYERS

COMPETING

(By HALF-VOLLEY.)

The Auckland Lawn Tennis Association's 1931 championship meeting, to be held at Stanley Street on January 28, 29, 30 and 31, promises to be one of the most successful for some years. The presence of A. 0. Stedman, the new Dominion singles champion, and Mrs. H. M. Dykes, who, regained the New Zealand championship this year, will, of course, invest the meeting with some considerable interest. .In addition, Auckland is this year in all probability to bo favoured by an unusually large number of Southern visitors. m .Charters is sure to bo competing, for he is .now at Pukekohe, and Dr. Laurenson is said to' be definitely coming from Matamata. Mrs. Melody is defending her title, which she won by defeating Miss Knight in the final last year. This year Miss Knight defeated Mrs. Melody in the final at New Plymouth, and with these two ladies, as well as Mrs. Dykes and Miss Macfarlane, the ladies' matches will be .up to New Zealand championship standard. Noel Wilson is a definite entrant. He Avill play in the singles, and in the mixed doubles with Mrs. Melody. He will probably not play in the men's doubles. Lanipe and Shaw, of Wanganui, both informed the writer that they would definitely compete, while T. Ehodes-Williams Will very possibly also be coming. With such an entry as this the Auckland championship should draw a large gallery of spectators to Stanley Street each day of next week's tournament.

Tournament Arrangements. A competent committee is in 'charge of arrangements for the tournament, and it should be sure of being successful from the administrative point of view. The courts are in perfect order, and will compare favourably with any in New Zealand. There arc one o*r two matters, however, which have, in 'the past, been neglected, and it is hoped that this yeai'*s committee will , remedy the defects Apparent in previous tournaments. Complaints usually centre round the umpires, the ball-boys, and the trophies. It is understood that a committee has already been set up to deal with the problem of umpires. To umpires themselves it may be said that clearness and promptness in calling are virtues that cover up and atone for a multitude of other sins. The ball-boys are also under the control of a subcommittee, and it is to be hoped that some endeavour to train ball-boys in their duty will be made before, the tournament; As regards the trophijes, the writer would again urge that more of a public display be made of. these on the last day. The cups possessed'by the association are very valuable, and also possess considerable interest, both from fen artistic and. from a historical point of view, They Should be displayed on the last day of the tournament, and their presentation should be made as more of a, feature; it should be a public ceremony, .taking place immediately on the conclusion of: the final matches. .

Watching a Tournament. All players who have any pretensions to A grade status should, if possible, enter for at least, one event in the championships, oven if only to gain experience.. For juniors (under 21 years of age) there are live junior events, for which a; large entry is expected. In the senior events the men's singles A grade championship is limited to 32 players; the last 32 will be selected by the. committee, and 'others will be entered in the ' B grade championship, which is also expected to provide some good tennis. ■ . ••• • For those, players who feel that their form does riot justify an entry, one can onjy recommend tha.t they attend the championships and avail themselves of ;the best chance of the season of seeing good playere at the top of their form. When watching'tennis froni the educational point of view, it is well to remember that it is the player that shoukl be watched, not the .game. The ordinary' spectator of. ra, .tennis match of course Watches the. whole game; he follows the flight of the ball from end to end of the court, and: watches each'player by turn. But the student who. is watching to educate himself in the game does not do this. He chooses which player he will watcli, and then watches him throughout the game. Thus ho sees what such a player does between his strokes, watches him moving into position after he hae played his shot, and, gains an 'idea of his whole game, which is quite impossible if an attempt is' made to Watch two players. at once.

i Retirements and Rests. The perennial problem, of rests and retirements from the court during the progress of a match is again being discussed among players who took part in the New Zealand championships at Christchurch and the -North Island championships at New Plymouth. Last year, it will be remembered, the matter obtained some prominence,, principally as a result of Miss Nicholls resting during a. match against Miss Purcell at Wanganui. This year in tw.o ladies' matches at Cht'istchurch the- question arose. Mrs. Adams, being in a losing position against Mrs. Melody, felt faint and had to rest -for a few minutes; after, refreshment she won the match. Miss.Nicholls again felt the heed of rest When in'a losing'position against Mrs. Thompson; she likewise was allowed to rest, but Mrs. Thompson won the match. Then at the New Plymouth tournament the question was raised again whehl. L. Bartleet met L. France in the semifinal of the men's singles. Bartleet was undoubtedly the better player on the day. He won the first set with ease, and led in the second, when he was overcome by sickness and had to retire from the court* Resuming in a very short time, he was within two games of the match when he had to leave the court again. He resumed again almost at.once, and won; but it appears that his opponent made no effort, after the second, adjournment of play, to gave the match. The position was a regrettable one, and was given more prominence by Bartleet's subsequent default to Wilson in the final. ,§l

Though.possibly in none of these cases there was good cause for complaint— and in the writer's opinion there was none at least in the Bartleet-France match— it is obvious that tennis.authorities in New Zealand will have* to give matters such as these serious attention, and umpires and referees would probably welcome A definite pronouncement by the New Zealand. Association.

Dominion Championship Arrangements. While on the subject of rules and regulations, "Half-Volley" places bii record a matter which lie has heard_ discussed recently several times. 'This is the fact that the New Zealand tournament was under. the official control of Mr. Murray Kean, the New Zealand Association's efficient secretary, and that Mr. Kean was also the referee of the tournament. It is an axiom that no one should be judge in his own cause, and to anyone who admits the truth of this almost proverbial saying it will appear undesirable that the same man should be tournament manager and should also constitute the only court df appeal from his own decisions.' The New Zealand Association will be wise to alter this state of affairs at the next Dominion tournament. .

M.K.W. CHALLENGE CUP.

SECOND SERIES COMPLETED.

D GRADE.

The second series of the inter-club matches in the M.K.W. Challenge Clip competition was played on Saturday afternoon under ideal weather conditions. The results of the matches are as i'dllow: Kunieu beat Hobsonville, at Hobsonville, U —4 ; ltiverlicad beat Waimauku, at Waimauku, 7—o; Waikoukou lost to Woodbill, at Woodhill, s—B. Following are the details, the names of the players of the •first-mentioned club taking precedence in each case:— ■, '• •** KUAIEU V. HOBSONVILLE. Men's Singles.—C. Giles lost 'to M. Shaw. 0 —&; G. Shiittleworth beat P. Nieklin, !)—Hi; L. J. Sturm beat M. Clark, i). —.S; W. Brown lost to A. Armistead, ij . ■ i Men's Doubles.—Giles and Shuttleworth beat Shaw iind Nicklin, o—B ; "Sturni and Brown lost to Clark and Armistead, 6—9; Kinloch and Smith beat N. Armistead and S. Wisely, 9—B. Ladies' Singles.—Miss B. Shuttlewortb hoJit Miss Mi Sinton, 7—2; Mrs. M. S; .Harris beat, Miss E. Ockleston/ 7—o. Ladies' Doubles. —Miss Shuttleworth and Mrs. Harris, lost to Misses ■ Sinton and Ockleston, -I—71 —7 ; Miss L. Barnes and Mrs. Nicholson beat Miss E. Dale and Miss M. Clark, 7— '-. Combined Doubles.—F. Kinloch and Miss Barnes beat S. Wisely and Miss M. Clark, 7—4; W. Smith and Mrs. Nicholson beat N. Armistead and Miss E. Dale, 7-— O. itIVEHHEAD V. WAIMAUKU. Men's Singles.—S. R. Gould beat C. Maefarquhar, i> —3; W. J. McKibbon beat It. Lennox, o—3; C, Cocks beat M. Kingdon, 9 —2 ; C. Hall lost to l>. Foster, 4—o. Men's Doubles.—Gould .and McKibbon beat Maefarquhar and Lennox, 9 —2 ; Cocks and Hall lost to Kihgdon and Foster, o—9; R. Hall and V. Ball beat It.. Harris and J. Johnson, 9—2. Ladies' Singles.—Mrs. H.»L. Crooks lost to Miss F. Maefarquhar, 4—7; Miss W. Davis lost to Miss lit. Armitage, 5—7. Ladies' Doubles.—Mrs. Crooks and Miss Davis lost to Misses Maelarquhiir and Armitage, I—7; Mrs. Gould and Mrs. McKibbon lost to Misses Lennox and Wintour, o—7, Combined Doubles.—F. Ball and Mrs. Gould beat R. Harris and Miss M. Lennox, 7—l; K. Hall and Mrs. McKibbon beat J. Johnson and Miss M. Wintour, 7—2. ■ WdODHILL V. WAIKOUKOU. . Men's Singles.—A. Phillips beat' D. Kefr-Taylor, 9—l; W. Sandiu 'lost to R. Madklow, 5—9 ; J. Pym beat N. Wilson, 9—6; K. Harris lost to L. Kerr-Taylor, Men's Doubles.—Phillips and Sandin'lost to D. Kerr-Taylor anil Mackldw, 8—0; Harris and Pym beat Wilson and L. KerrTaylor, 9—B; D. Gtiy and A. L. Phillips lost .to, T. Kerr-Taylor and W. Wheeler, S-β. Ladles' Singles.—Mrs. J. Pym beat Miss N. KerrVTuylpr, 7—C; Mrs.' G. Mc■Dohald beat. Miss M. Cough lan, 7—a. Ladies' Double's Mrs. Pym and Mrs McDonald beat Misses Kerr-Taylor and M Coughlau, 7*--4.; Mrs. Deane and Miss Phillips lost to Miss B. Coughlan' and Mrs A. Kerr-tuylor, G—7; Combined Doubles.—D. Guy and Mrs. Deiine beat-MV Kerr-Taylor and Miss E. Philllbs beat. W. Wheeler and Mrs A, Kerr-Tuylpf, 7—5.

AOTBA V. BALMORAL. (Aotea names first.) Men's Singles.—Cochran lost to Fraser 6—b, 3—6, 4—6; Aikman lost to Huckstep, I—6, ,6 —2, 4—6. Ladies' Singles.—Miss Meuzies beat Miss Adams, 5— 6, 6—l, o—3; Miss - Lovegrove beat Miss Barr, 6—3, G—4. Men's Doubles.—Aiknian and Coehran beat HUckstep. iatid Fraser, 6—3, G--5 • Nash and Wilford lost 'to*-Clark' and Bark' 4 —o, 4—G. , -. ' Ladies' Singles;— Misses Meiizies and Lovegrove beat Misses Adams and Barr I—6, 6 —4, 6—5 ; Misses Dodge and Aikman beat Misses Selkirk and Wernham G —2, 6—l. ~<.'. Mixed Doubles.—tfash and Miss - Dodge' , lost to Bark and Miss Selkirk, i-*J) #-(s,# Wilford and Miss Aikman lost .jo' Claris:' and Miss Wernham, 6—3, v " Aotea won by 13 sets to 12.'

TAKAPUNA CLUB

Further results, of the Takapuna l Club's matches for the season-are as follow :—=>•"■■' Ladies' Championship Singles.—Miss G. Lorie beat Miss P.latts, G—o, D —6, o— 2 Ladies' Handicap Singles.—Mrs. Bow, receive 3-6, beat Miss G. Loric, owe 3-0, 9—5; Mrs. Whyte, receive 3-G, beat Miss Cooko, scr, o—6;0 —6; Mrs. Davidson, owe 3-0, beat Mrs. Bartrum, receive 3-6,-0 —5; Mrs. Coltman, owe-S-6, beat"Mrs. W.hyte, receive 3-6, 9—3; Mrs. Bowden, owe 3-6, beat Mi.sd ■Browne, receive 16, 9 —4. •-.':.■ ; Ladies' Handicap Doubles.—Mrs. Croshor and Mrs. Bowden, oWe 4-6, beat Miss Gamble and Mrs. Barti'um, scr, 9 —6. Men's Championship Singles.—Biss' lie'nt Dumbleton, 6—o, r 6^-4; Harrison beat Cole, G—3, 6—5 ; -Gamble beat Browne, 6—3, 5—6, 6—3; Taylor beat H. J. Preston, 0—5.. , .' ' ' Men's Handicap , Singles.—Kessing, 'receive 30, beat- Callender, scr, G —3, '6-»-0; N. Hume, owe 15 4-6, beat England, owe 3-6, 6'—l; Amodeo, receive 15, beat Harrison, owe 15 4-6, 6—2, 6.—2 ;■ Whyte, owe 3-6* beat Dumbleton, scr, 2—6, G —2, 6—2 ; K. Hume, receive 15, beat Evertoti, owe 15, 6 —2, 6—2; Browne, owe 8-6,..beat ".T. Burtrum, receive 30, 3—6, 6—4, 6—o ; 11. .N. Preston, scr, beat Cole, owe. 3-6, 6—i; G--3. .'■ • ,

Men's Handicap Doubles.—lHumc- and. Hume, owe 2-6, bent Sullivan and Keeping, receive 15, 3—6, 6—l, 6—2; Gamble and Everton, owe 30, beat Harrlsoii and JI. N.- Prestoi), owe. 15, 2—6. 6—l, 6—3. Combined Handicap Doubles.—Gamble iind Miss Eccles, receive 0. beat Harrison and Mrs. Coltraaii, scr. 60—3S; Aiiioileo and Miss Gamble, -receive .14, beat Blair and Miss O'Neill, receive 12, 60—53.