TOOK A TUMBLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 143, 19 June 1934, Page 15

TOOK A TUMBLE.

SHIKINA COUNTED OUT. ALI BEY MAKES HIS BOW. WRESTLING- SHOWMANSHIP. Showmanship in plenty was, seen at the Town Hall last evening, when Ali Bey (Turkey) defeated Oki Shikina (Japan) in the headliucr of the Auckland Wrestling Association's carnival. No falls were registered Ley being declared the winner when bhiknia failed to return after tumbling from the platform on which the ring was erected to the floor of the mam hall. IJio crowd was in no way a record one but. during the progress of the match it made plenty or noise, a large section of it appearing thoroughly to enjoy the horse play. Although the fireworks were mostlv ot the harmless variety, they were Weil received, and the principals saw to it tirit the contest was never allowed to lag The men took it in turn to throw each oth"r about, and the noise they made in doing tins appeared to heighten the spectators' enjoyment. As an exhibition of tumbling the bout was first-class, but there were some of the crowd who would have preferred to see more solid wrestling. Shikina as in his other matches, wrestled with bare feet, and was the favourite with the crowd. It was All Bey's first appearance in Auckland, and, seemingly so that the crowd would realise that he was a Turk he entcied the ring wearing a flaming red fez.

The ending of the match came unexpectedly in the fifth round. Shikina at the time was setting the pace, and he had Ali Bey against the ropes. When he went in to close quarters to continue his attack the Turk caught him with his legs, and appeared deliberately ot heave both'himself and his opponent over the ropes. Still locked together, the pair rolled a few feet along the edge of the staging, and then toppled off on to the floor of the main hall, Shikina being underneath when they hit the boards. The referee (Mr. H. C Sidford) immediately jumped out of the ring and commenced to count. Bey struggled back to the ring at the count of the ninth second, but the .Japanese remained where he was, and when the full count of twenty seconds had been completed Ali Bey's right hand was held aloft, signifying that lie was the winner. Surprise Decision. The action of the referee in promptly declaring the Turk the winner was dillicult to understand, for it is generally understood that a wrestler who is out of the ring for more than 20 seconds loses a fall, but not necessarily the match. It would seem that the correct procedure for the. referee to have adopted would have been to award Ali Bey a fall, and then to allow Shikina two minutes, the usual ntervnl between rounds, in which to recover;. If then the Japanese had not been aLI6 to continue,- Ali Bey could have been deblared the winner. Actually Shikina was carried from the hall to his dressing: room, and it was some minutes before he recovered, so that if the correct procedure had been adopted the result would have been tlie same. ,

Another iregularity that was not generally noticed by the crowd was that Ali Bey was assisted by his second when lie clambered back to the ring. At that time Shikina had not been counted out, so that the action of the Turk's second in aiding him should have cost Ali Bey at least a penalty fall. Apparently, however, Mr. Sidfortf was too busy watching Shikina to keep his eyes on Ali Bey, and the Turk escaped any penalty. AH Bey weighed 15.0, and Shikina 14.10. Bright Opening. . v -Almost with the, opening gong, Shikina hiy.jojpiMJneiit,with., 'a- neut.:i'frofc trip, and he* was Applauded "later .for the way "in which ho wriggled out of trouble.' An arm stretch had Bey pulling faces and fighting hard to escape. The Turk fivcu'tjially. got a toehold, but did not hold ifc for long. When they got to their feet again Bey took control with a series of headloeks, until the Japanese brought his elbows into play and sent the Turk toppling through the ropes. Shikina had the house roaring when he chased his opponent round the ring, at first trying to butt him and later attempting to reach him ivith his feet. A bodypress gave Ali Bey the advantage at the end of the round, and the Japanese had to fight hard to keep his shoulders off the mat.

. The Turk started the second round, with ■ a head scissors, and later tossed the Oriental about with lieadlock throws. Shikiua came to light with a butt, which caused the Turk to go into retreat, and the Japanese quickly got to work with - elbow hits which had Ali Bey staggering. The Turk was hooted for smacking the Jap. in the stomach, and there was laughter when Shikina retaliated by, nipping the Turk's lingers with his teeth. The Japanese eventually worked but he was underneath again at the gong. A head scissors and haramerlock had Bey grunting early in the third round. The Turk soon freed his head, but it was not until he had pulled the Japanese over ' his shoulder, flying mare style, several times, that he got him arm out of the hammerlock. More throws from headlocks ' by Ali Bey kept the pot boiling, and then Shikina did his part by twice dropping his opponent with swings froln his elbow. • Twice the Japanese applied his stopper ■ hold but without result. More elbow hits to the side of the head had Ali Bey blinkering and floundering in the fourth round, and he protested that the Japanese " had used his fist. After being thrown i twice with cross-buttocks Shikina kicked his opponent with both feet in the stomach and immediately applied his stopper again. Near the end of the round All Bey made more play with throws from 'cross-buttocks. Fireworks of the humourous variety marked the first halt of the fifth round, and . then came the unexpected ending as already described. The Amateurs. R. Young (8.12) beat H. Franklin (8.13) on. points. Neither could score a fall in an entertaining bout. Young several tunes just failed to complete the turnover 101 a Boston crab. . F. Baker (10.4) beat T. Murphy (10.0) on points. No falls were scored in this bout, in which Murphy worked'the harder throughout. The decision in - Bakers favour came as a. .surprise and was not appreciated by the crowd. C Curtis (9.7) beat J. Dobbyn (,9.4) by one fall. After stout' resistance by his opponent Curtis was awarded a fall from a body press in the second round, iiie other rounds were bloodless. R. Douglas (12.7) beat Iv. Allen (12.0) v on points, no fall being registered. Douglas was the aggressor from the start, but was unable to do much with his opponent when he got him on the mat. In the final round Douglas was more tired than his opponent.

KOLOFF BEATS WALKER.

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. Eight rounds of solid but ' dour and unspectacular Vwrestling between George Walker (New Zealand) and Dan Koiott (Bulgaria) was witnessed by a crowded house at the Town Hall this evening. JvolofE won by the only fall, secured m the sixth round with a dump. Considering the publicity which had been given to the meeting of these matmen a ' more thrilling bout was expected, and it is probable that the crowd was disappointed.