Badminton DEPARTURE OF MALAYANS

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28606, 7 June 1958, Page 7

Badminton DEPARTURE OF MALAYANS

N.Z. Improvement Noted Improvement in the standard of badminton in New Zealand was noted by the manager of the touring overseas Malayan badminton team, which left for Australia yesterday. The manager, Mr W. F. Chong, commented especially upon the advances made by the young players, A. M. Stephens and N. R. Thompson, since he had seen them play in Australia last year. On that occasion, he said, they had been the bottom two members of the New Zealand team, but Stephens in particular would now be among the best players in either country. The captain of the touring team, Ong Eng Hong, confirmed the gener-ally-held impression that the standard of play, among the men, was the same in New Zealand and Australia. His wins in the Dominion against Stephens and J. E. ’Robson had been by approximately the same margin as was usually seen in his matches against the best Australian players, D. Murray and K. Turner. Women’s Standard The Malayan players agreed that the standard of play among the women in New Zealand was extremely high by world standards. Koo Sheuh Hun, who played with Miss Ann Mackenzie in a mixed doubles match in Oamaru during the tour, said hat the standard was much higher than that in Australia. Women played little in Malaya, said Ong, and their standard did not compare with that of the men. This he ascribed to their natural retiring disposition. If the proposed team was sent to compete for the international Über Cup next year, said Ong, the main opposition would come from the United States and from Denmark. The top United States girls, the Devlin sisters, had dominated the AllEngland titles foK. the last three years, but Ong considered the play of New Zealand’s Sonia Cox to be very little, if any, inferior. Mr Chong said that, with one exception, the halls used during the tour had been very good, and the lighting was usually up to standard Most of the olayers were tired after so much concentrated play in three weeks, he said. Ong, for instance, had not played so much for four years. The players would return to Australia with very happy memories ci their time in New. Zealand, said Mr Chong.