PEOPLE IN THE PLAY

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28268, 4 May 1957, Page 5

PEOPLE IN THE PLAY

The first table tennis player J to strike form this season is if J. Armstrong, of Eagles. This g week, in an inter-club match, jg he beat the New Zealand repg resentatives, V. N. Brightwell g and T. R. D. Flint. In addition, g he won the first of the Selwyn g club’s champion-of-champions H tournament, beating his old || rival, R. Mercer, ip the semiil final, and Flint in the final. j ☆ J W. Rogers, a recent arrival |f from Scotland, has signed up g with the Western Soccer Club. § Rogers played professional g football for Falkirk club and 1 impressed those who saw him gat practice last week. UnH fortunately he has injured an g ankle and will not be playing' g for a few Saturdays. ☆

H Canterbury's Brabin tournail ment cricket captain, Graham = Dowling, distinguished himself

g last Saturday g by scoring 33 J of the 45 points | for ChristS church against g Lyttelton in if the junior A < grade. Dowljg ing, at second g five - eighths, J scored five g tries, convertJed six, and H kicked two

g penalty goals. He did not take g 1 all the. kicks at goal, and no | [ g attempt was made to kick goals if 1| from three penalties near the p g posts. Dowling played for the i 1 H Canterbury under 20 team last || I season, as a left wing. ☆ J A new member of the South 5 Island soccer selectors’ panel § this year is Mr S. Guppy, of g Nelson. Mr Guppy is also well : J| known in surf life-saving g circles, and was for many years § a member of the Wellington g Polar Bear Club—an organisag tion which promoted winter g swimming. Formerly a memII ber of the Maranui Surf Life g Saving Club, he was one of ; g the finest exponents of bredstg stroke in the surf. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllN

Christchurch will lose another good golfer to Wellington soon, with the transfer of

J. G. Mangan, a member of the Christchurch clu b. Last year. Mangan was undefeated in his Woodward Cup matches, of which he won five and halved one. Last year. too. he won the

stroke championship at the Christchurch club’s Easter tournament.

☆ T. Meale. a former Wellington and Hutt Valley left-hand opening batsman, will play in New Zealand next season. Meale was the only New Zealander to make a century against the West Indies on its 1951-52 tour, and last season played well with the LondonNew Zealand club. ☆ Prominent among Rangers’ forwards last year, Ronnie Moore has moved to Auckland and was among the scorers for Onehunga in its opening match of the season.

A strong contender for the position of full-back in the Canterbury soccer team is M. Shardlow. who recently returned from an 13-months’ visit to England and Canada. Shardlow is 6ft lin, weighs 13st 81b. and is a strong tackler. He did not play much soccer while he was away, but was a member of the Chatham Cup winning team in 1955, and seems to be playing as well as ever. ☆ The well-known Tuakau Dowler, J. R. Pirret, jun., is the first bowler in the country to hold both the New Zealand titles for outdoor and indoor bowls. He is a member of the Buckland Indoor Bowling Club and of the Tuakau Bowling Club.

For the first time in three g seasons, the former All Black 1 and Canterbury front-row for- g ward, B. P. Eastgate, is able to take an active part in Rugby in Canterbury. An illness in 1954 cut short his career while he was at the top of his form, He has now fully recovered, and this year will select the Canterbury Colts’ i team. He will long be remem- g bered in Canterbury for his 1 magnificent play in the Ran- g furly Shield match against g Southland -in 195£. g