Badminton Australia Beats N.Z. By 11 Matches To 3

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28963, 3 August 1959, Page 9

Badminton Australia Beats N.Z. By 11 Matches To 3

New Zealand's badminton representatives suffered their worst-ever defeat in the international Whyte Trophy series when they lost to Australia by 11 matches to three in the contest which ended in the King; Edward Barracks on Saturday evening. Behind 2-5 after the first evening’s play. New Zealand won only one more match on the second evening. The top men’s singles between J. E. Robson iNew Zealand) and K. C. Turner was most disappointing from New Zealand's point of view. Robson had had a win and a loss to Turner so far on this tour, and it had been hoped that the Aucklander's greater experience would enable him to raise his play for this vital match. The top New Zealand woman. Miss S. Cox, had to withdraw from the contest with a thigh injury, and was unable to play her singles match. She was replaced by Miss A. Mackenzie, the reserve for the New Zealand team. The Australian, C. R. Cutt, who withdrew from his singles on Friday evening with a leg injury, did not play in his mixed doubles. Under the rules which govern the contest, if a player in the home team withdraws he is replaced by an emergency, who takes the injured player’s position in the team. If, however, a visiting player is unable to play, the matches in which he cannot participate are cancelled. As Cutt could not play in two matches, the total in the contest was reduced to 14.

However, Robson’s play did not approach his performance four years ago, when he last played in a Whyte Trophy match. He has obviously lost his fine touch and, whereas five years ago he only very rarely played a loose shot, on Saturday evening he failed to dictate the trend of the play. This is not to deny fine play by Turner. The Australian played a much tighter game, and always seemed to have the shuttle well under control. Early in the match Robson fell into errors when attempting dropshots, and Turner encouraged these errors to lead 12-6 in the first game. Fine smashes by Robson brought him back into the game at 10-12, but Turner won the next three points. Robson was well out of touch with his drop-shots in the second game, although it was obvious that without this variation in his play he could not have hoped to beat the Australian. Turner covered the court extremely well, and alwavs seemed to have plenty of time to play his shots. He was never bustled, and only rarely had to stretch himself to return the shuttle. Robson just could not find a part of the court which was beyond the reach ol his opponent. The second Australian, J. b. Russell, also made no mistake about winning his singles match against the Southlander, P. D. Skelt. Russell had previously beaten Skelt twice on this tour, with these matches both being fairly close. However, when the vital match came Russell tightened up his game and was never in danger of losing. Skelt tried hard to keep the shuttle in play but Russell had no weaknesses. His speed around the court was equalled during the contest by that of Turner and the margin of his victory (la-6, la-a) gives a fair indication of his general superiority. Mrs H Robson, of Auckland gained New Zealand’s only win on the second evening of play when she won her singles match against Mrs J Twining. This meant that New Zealand's three victories were all in women's singles matches, as Misses G. Hopkinson and G. Tompkins had won their matches on the first evening.

Mrs Robson lost the first game 11-8 to Mrs Twining, as the Australian woman was frequently successful in working herself into position for the use of her fine smash. In the second game Mrs Robson played with inspiration and could do nothing wrong. In this and in the third game (after being behind 3-4 in the latter) she bewildered the Australian with line smashes, clears and drop-shots, and Mrs Twining could find no answer. It was unfortunate for New Zealand that Miss Cox was unable to play, as this undoubtedly deprived New Zealand of taking the whole four women’s singles matches. Miss Cox's replacement, Miss A. Mackenzie, has won her matches for New Zealand in two previous Whyte Trophy contests, but this year she does not look like an international player. Mrs M. Russell, the Australian champion, won this match with ease, making particularly good use of her very fine backhand clear. N. R. Thompson and A. M. Stephens did very well in their mens doubles match to press Turner and G. A. Robotham to two close games New Zealand had been so well beaten in the women's and mixed doubles that the showing in the two men’s doubles of the New Zealand pairs is even more surprising. Robson and Mrs Robson, who have been playing together for many years, were the only New Zealand doubles combination with any great amount of experience, and were expected to do well in their mixed doubles. However, they had no chance against another husband-and-wite combination, Russell and Mrs Russell. Results of the second evening’s play (New Zealand names first) were:— Men's Singles.—J. E. Robson lost to K. C. Turner, 10-15, 8-15; P. D. Skelt lost to J. S. Russell, 6-15, 5-15. Women’s Singles.—Miss A. Mackenzie lost to Mrs M. Russell. 2-11, 5-11. Mrs H Robson beat Mrs J. Twining, 8-11, 11-2, 11-5. Men s Doubles.—N. R. Thompson and A. M. Stephens lost to K. C. Turner and G. A. L. Robotham, 14-17, 10-15.

Worrfen’s Doubles. —Miss G. Hopkinson and Miss G. Tompkins lost to Mrs A. Pincott and Mrs J. Bevan, 8-15, 3-15. Mixed Doubles.—J. E. Robson and Mrs H. Robson lost to J. S. Russell and Mrs M. Russell, 7-15, 2-15.