Lawn Tennis N.Z. TITLE DATES

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28540, 20 March 1958, Page 7

Lawn Tennis N.Z. TITLE DATES

January 3-10 At Wilding Park The New Zealand tennis championships will be held in Christchurch from January 3-10. Mr G. E. Atkinson reported this at the delegates’ meeting of the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association last evening. The dates of the 8.P., South Island and New Zealand championships had given the management committee a great deal of concern and the New Zealand Association had suggested that the national championships be held on January 10-16. “Our committee felt that that was a little late. The players would be back at . work, the officials back at work and the public back at work,” he said. Negotiations had been made with Timaru, he said. The Canterbury championships would now be held on December 25-28, and the South Canterbury championships from December 29January 1. This would give the players time to get back to Christchurch for the national championships, said Mr Atkinson. Professional Match “We have received a cheque for £1077 from the New Zealand Association for the professional match, which I think will be a big lift, to the association,” said Mr Atkinson. The chairman (Mr R. N. C. Hill) said about £2OO would come off and leave about £BOO net.

A new venture this year was a match arranged between a South Island junior team and a provincial senior side, said Mi Atkinson. The match would be played in Dunedin on Saturday Canterbury had provided twe boys and one girl—G. Moss, A. Browne and Miss L. Mardon. “We have brought the juniors along to a certain stage and from there they cannot improve further without big games. We have endeavoured to give them one,” he said. Wilding Park

Mr Burtt reported that the Wilding Park committee hoped to extend the pavilion so that it would become a better proposition for letting. An increase in the levy was not desirable so to help improve the finances it was hoped that Wilding Park would be made more self-supporting. It was also planned that some of the hard courts would be topdressed before the winter and that the grass courts would be topdressed so that they would be in first-class order for the national championships, Mr Burtt said.

If it was possible for the Canterbury association to buy a tennis stroke machine it would do so, said Mr Atkinson. Such a machine would probably be installed at Wilding Park and hired out to clubs, schools or private persons.