CANTERBURY BEATS SOUTH CANTERBURY BY 18 To 6

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28531, 10 March 1958, Page 14

CANTERBURY BEATS SOUTH CANTERBURY BY 18 To 6

Canterbury’s women lawn tennis players were in good form when the team beat South Canterbury by 18 matches to 6 in a representative fixture at Wilding Park yesterday. After the mixed doubles in the morning, Canterbury led by 4 matches to 2. The men’s singles were shared, three matches each, but the Canterbury women won all their six singles to give the team an unbeatable lead of 13 matches to 5.

The South Canterbury men did well to take three singles and in each of the other three the Canterbury players were fully extended. Canterbury won the two top singles, lost the next, won the fourth and lost the bottom two.

Generally the Canterbury women had too much pace and experience of positional play and placement for their less experienced opponents. The Canterbury women went on to win their three doubles but one doubles was lost by the men, where the standard was more even. The third set of the doubles that Canterbury lost went to 20-22. By winning six of the individual matches, South Canterbury did better than it has in this fixture the last twice. Last season the match at Timaru was stopped because of rain; in the 1955-56 season, Canterbury won. 17-1 at Wilding Park; the previous season, . Canterbury won, 20-3 at Timaru; and in the 1953-54 season, Canterbury won, 18-6 at Wilding Park. Some of yesterday’s matches were marred a little by drizzling rain which made footing difficult and rackets hard to grip. Top Men W. Pritchard, the top-ranked Canterbury player, beat a former North Linwood clubmate, B. R. Crawford, 6-3, 9-11, 6-0, in the leading men’s singles. Crawford, who left Christchurch to live at Timaru last year, played a good second set but failed in the third. Without appearing brilliant, Pritchard was very steady throughout the match and he went about it in a business-like manner. His service was not strong, but the rest of*his game was generally sound and he used a wide range of strokes. Crawford excelled on his forehand in the second set, whipping shots very hard to the open court. He struggled well to take the set, but made too many errors in the last. In the second singles, A. L. Blackwell (Canterbury) beat S.. McWhirter, 6-4, 8-6. McWhirter’s awkward two-handed style did not detract from his accuracy and he had fine control of double-handed shots on both sides. With little pace on his own shots he was also able to slow Blackwell’s game down. Blackwell scored when McWhirter lost his length to allow the Canterbury player to come into the net for his favourite volleys. The other Canterbury man who won was J. Beatty. He beat P. Kinney, 5-7, 8-6, 6-2. Only after he had lost the first set and was down 2-5 and 0-40 irN the second set did he gain the initiative to recover strongly. W. Dickson, B. Shirlaw and T. Harneiss (Canterbury) lost to K. Green, N. Coe and J. Chester respectively. Coe, the New Zealand squash champion kept errors to a minimum. Women Superior The Canterbury women were markedly superior except in the two top matches which were hardfought by the Souter twins, of South Canterbury, who are now at the Christchurch Teachers’ Training College. Miss L. Luxton (Canterbury) beat Miss Diane Souter, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 and Miss G. Hopkinson beat Miss Denise Souter, 6-3. 7-5. The top singles was mainly a driving duel although Miss Luxton made a few successful sorties to the net. The Canterbury woman won by her control and accuracy but she was often upset by Miss Diane Souter’s passing drives that hugged the sidelines. The match was a long one with the more experienced player winning. Misses Hopkinson, K. Brander, J. Lambert, L. Mdrdon and J. Patterson, all won for Canterbury in straight sets. Results (Canterbury names first):— Men’s Singles W. Pritchard beat B. Crawford. 6-3, 9-11, (T-0; A. L. Blackwell beat S McWhirter. 6-4, 8-6; W. Dickson lost to K. Green, 7-5, 1-6, 4-6; B Shirlaw lost to N. Coe. 1-6, 3-6; J. Beatty beat P. Kinney, 5-7. 8-6, 6-2; T Harneiss lost to J. Chester, 6-0. 2-6, 1-6. Women’s Singles Miss L. Luxton beat Miss Diane

Souter. 6-2, 1-6. 7-5; Miss G. Hopkinson beat Miss Denise Souter, 6-3, 7-5; Miss K. Brander beat Miss B. Fraser, 6-0, 6-4; Miss J. Lambert beat Mrs S. Black, 6-3/ 6-3: Miss L. Mardon beat Miss M. Unwin, 6-2, 6-2; Miss J. Patterson beat Miss B. Payne, 6-1, 6Men’s Doubles Pritchard and Blackwell beat Crawford and McWhirter, 6-0, 10-8: Dickson and Shirlaw lost to Green and Coe, 7-5, 0-6, 20-22; Beatty and Harneiss beat Kinney and Chester, 7- 6-4. Women’s Doubles Misses Luxton and Lambert beat Misses Souter and Souter. 6-4, 6-4; Misses Hopkinson and Brander beat Misses Fraser and Unwin, 8-6, 6-0; Misses Mardon and Patterson beat Mrs Black and Miss Payne, 6-3, 6-3. Mixed Doubles Pritchard and Miss Luxton lost to Crawford and Miss Diane Souter, 4-6, 6-8; Blackwell and Miss Hokpinson beat McWhirter and Miss Denise Souter, 6-2, 6-2; Dickson and Miss Brander beat Green and Miss Unwin, 6-3, 6-0; Shirlaw and Miss Patterson lost tq Coe and Miss Fraser. 3-6, 3-6; Beatty and Miss Mardon beat Kinney and Mrs Black. 6-2, 6-3; Harneiss and Miss Lambert beat Chester and Miss Payne. 6-0, 6-8, 6-4. Canterbury won by 18 matches to 6