TENNIS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 14572, 16 January 1948, Page 5

TENNIS

MATCHES LAST WEEK-END Poor Form Of Tauranga Women Railway Club’s Fine Showing ("Forehand”) Two inter-club tennis matches were played at Tauranga last weekend. Tauranga scored a not too convincing win over Rotorua at the Domain courts, in a Lees Cup game, while the up and coming Railway club showed promising form in a decisive win over Mount Maunganui in the Watt Cup series. Tauranga’s win was not convincing because, with the exception of the unavailability of Miss Pat Johnson, the team was at full strength, whereas the Rotorua side was considerably weakened by the absence of two of its key men, and also its number two woman player. Had both teams been at full strength it is quite conceivable that Rotorua would have taken home the cup. And it is from this angle that T suggest the Tauranga selectors should look when selecting their team for the next match. The men are strong and are headed by J. Aitkenhead and K. Dyer, both of whom, by outstanding performances over the past two seasons, have proved themselves to be far ahead of any other player in the Bay of Plenty. They are ably supported by consistent players in P. Johnston, R. Dickison, A. Davidson and N. Guinness. But with the women it is a different story. Apart from Miss Lanie Kirk, who is now showing a pleasing return to her true form, none of the others has done well in representative play this season. Pat Johnson and Pam Johnson, Edna Galbally and Nan Brown are all capable of quite,good tennis, but for some unaccountable reason they all lapse into negative and defensive tennis when representing their club. This is possibly due to lack of hard match play. To remedy this I would earnestly suggest that the club selector should organise a small group to participate in a series of ranking singles. These matches would have a dual effect. The present members of the team would benefit from the extra singles play, while others such as Mrs Willcock, Miss Betty Steedman and Miss Rac Stevens would be given the opportunity to prove whether or not they are worthy of a place in the team. Two young clubs —Railway and Mount Maunganui—had an interesting match last week-end. Railway secured a decisive win after some very close matches. The top men— White (Railway) and Woodcraft (Mount) —turned on a good display. Woodcraft impressed as a player with good possibilities. He plays a good all-court game and fully deserved to win. E. Royal and H. Hardy both played splendid tennis, neither being afraid to hit thendrives hard and make advantageous sortees to the net. W. Patrick had an easy win from B. Seabourne in straight sets. Seabourne would be well advised to forget about his ineffective side spin service. W. Ede impressed with his hard hitting, but a little more restraint and accuracy will be needed when he comes up against a more equal opponent. The women’s matches were very even, the tennis at times being of a very high standard. Miss Hassell’s steadiness and stamina prevailed over. Mrs Woodcraft’s consistent attack. Miss Rankin put up a good fight against Mrs Coldwell. Mrs Coldwell is an experienced player and should be a great asset to the Railway Club. She needs plenty of match play to bring out her true ability. Mrs Patrick played an aggressive game, employing a strong forehand to gain an easy victory over Mrs Clark. If she is to continue on her wining way, however, Mrs Patrick must concentrate on developing her weak backhand. Railway have a promising junior in Miss Parkinson. At present her game lacks confidence but more match play and coaching will overcome this. She scored a good win over Mrs Hutton.