N.Z. Badminton In City Next Week

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28984, 27 August 1959, Page 17

N.Z. Badminton In City Next Week

further step in a very busy badminton season in Christchurch will be taken on Monday when the New Zealand badminton championships open in the King Edward Barracks, Christchurch this year has already been host to the touring Australian team in its international matches in successful defence of the Whyte Trophy against New Zealand.

The national tournament will be continued on every evening of next week; and the finals will be played on Saturday evening. In addition to the New , Zealand championship events, there will be a host of minor competitions, including A, B and C grade championships and handicaps, together with veterans and junior events. Entries in the New Zealand championships proper can only be regarded as disappointing, with a total of 37 players in the men’s singles and 27 in the women’s singles. Large numbers of entries in the subsidiary events, however, will bring the total number of entries to about 670. Entries in the lower grades are mainly from local players.

Only a handful of local players have entered in the men’s and women’s national singles championships. Seedings gained by local players are those of Miss G. Hopkinson, seeded third in the women’s singles, and R. K. Macefield, seeded seventh in the men’s singles. In the men’s singles the topseeded is J. E. Robson of Auckland. Robson has won the men’s singles title on seven previous occasions, and in fact has never been beaten in these championships. His play in the Whyte Trophy match showed that he has not quite maintained his high standard of play, but in spite of this he appears an almost inevitable winner of the title.

The second and third seedings have gone to P. D. Skelt (Southland) and A. M. Stephens (Waikato). These two players have done nothing this season to suggest that they may extend Robson. N. R. Thompson (Southland) is seeded fourth. The only topranking players in the Dominion not to have entered are the three Otago men, Lee Tuck Chew, R. Reid and A. L. Scott. These three would have considerably strengthened the field in the men’s singles. The position is more interesting in the women’s singles. Miss S. Cox, who has won the title on five previous occasions from 1953 to 1957, has recently been suffering from an injured thigh muscle, which has hindered her in two international matches this season. She has not so far been able to produce her best form.

Miss Cox won the national junior title at the tender age of 13 in 1950, and for the last six seasons has been without peer in New Zealand and Australia Other young players in Misses Hopkinson, A. McKenzie and G Tompkins, however, have shown that they will be pressing Miss Cox for her title.

Miss Cox did not play in the championships last year, as she was playing tennis on the Continent. The winner last year was Miss Mackenzie, who beat Miss Hopkinson in the final. Although she holds the title. Miss Mackenzie is not seeded for this year’s event, as her play this season has not been at all good. Canterbury's hopes will rest with Miss Hopkinson, who is playing in her third national tournament. In 1957, in her third season of badminton, she was beaten by Miss Cox in a quarter-final, and last season she lost in the final to Miss Mackenzie. The re-appear-ance of Mrs H. Robson, titleholder in 1951 and 1952, adds further interest to the championship. Mrs Robson has been playing very well this season.