Junior Tennis Titles

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28480, 9 January 1958, Page 11

Junior Tennis Titles

This as a departure from he usual arrangement, the Canterbury junior lawn tennis chattnpiotashipe are being held separately from the senior championships to make the tasks at both more leisurely for players and administrators and to give juniors a chance to enter as well for the senior titles .without making their programmes too heavy.

By this move Canterbury has come into line with the other major provinces, all of which have held their senior and junior tournaments separtely for some years. The Canterbury junior titles should he all the better tor it.

Smaller Entries

But in the first year of the new system, the aims have not altogether been achieved. With the running of a separate tournament it might have been expected that the under 19 sections of the titles.

not particularly well patronised in recent years, would have drawn increased entries, but this has not been the case, especially in the boys’ section. For various reasons several of the province’s best juniors are not taking part in the champion-1 ships. R. Welsh, the New Zealand under-19 champion, is playing at the New Zealand senior championship) at Wellington, as are C. G. Judge and W. Thom. G. Moss is the only member of the Canterbury Slazenger Shield team in the tournament Apart from Judge, P. Alexander and A. Browne are working-and B. Aldridge is not entered either. In the girls’ sections notable absentees are K. Brander, K. Williams and B. Blackburn. By extending the closing dates for entries and by Some hard work in making approaches to players, the Canterbury Junior Lawn Tennis Association was able to strengthen its under-19 sections a little, but the dash with the New Zealand championships has proved a severe handicap. Another consideration is that many players eligible for the under-19 section are either at the stage-of leaving school to take jobs which often necessitate them starting in the New Year or they intend to go to university or teachers’ college, in which esse the holiday period is valuable for making money. Events Clash

But for the clash with the national senior championships, the tournament might even have gained >. entries from outstanding juniors Iran other provinces, such as J. B. Souter, of Wellington, who has played at Wilding Park bef ore, with great success. However, the fixing of alternative dates Would not be as easy as it might appear because the New Zealand tournament calendar is already packed tightly around the Christmas and New Year period because New Zealand players art amateurs in the true sense of the word. In spite of that, some thought might be given to alternatives.