Young Players In North Canterbury Tennis Team

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29108, 21 January 1960, Page 15

Young Players In North Canterbury Tennis Team

It is significant that the North Canterbury senior representative tennis team to play Hurunui in a Browning Shield match on Saturday is a young side, for It is a group of young players who have done so much to enhance the reputation of North Canterbury tennis in provincial tournaments this season. Members of the North Canterbury Lawn Tennis Sub-associa-tion have been told that theirs is the only sub-association in the province which regularly sends juniors to Christchurch for competition against city players. As a result of the experience gained in matches against good Christchurch players, the ladder matches in which some of the country players take part, and the city coaching given to some of them, the young players from North Canterbury have improved rapidly. The sub-association has been congratulated on the standard of play shown by juniors sent to the city. L. Watkins (Rangiora), who has been going to Christchurch the longest of the North Canterbury juniors and who has been chosen for the senior representative team, reached the final of the Canterbury under 17 boys’ singles championship. He was beaten by D. Scotland in the final, but won the boys’ doubles with Scotland. With Miss D. Corich, Watkins was runner-up in the mixed doubles. Watkins, who has received a good deal of coaching, was also a winner in a recent sponsored tournament in Christchurch, and is a Canterbury Slazenger Shield representative.

Another Rangiora junior who played well in the under 17 championships was B. Gibson, who reached the semi-final of the boys’ doubles with his partner, P. Boatwood, before being eliminated by the eventual winners, Watkins and Scotland. Gibson had met with considerable success in the under 15 grade against the province’s top players of this age group, but he found the step up to the under 17 grade in the Canterbury titles against older players a little too much. He won the boys’ singles in the under 15 grade of a big sponsored tournament earlier in the season. A natural all-round sportsman, and an accomplished cricketer, Gibson will probably soon be faced with having to make a difficult decision as to which summer sport he intends to concentrate on.

Several very good junior girls have shown up in North Canterbury this season; outstanding among them has been Miss D. Smith, of Fernside. Miss Smith was runner-up to Miss E. Ogilvie in the girls’ singles for the under 17 grade and, with Miss Ogilvie, won the doubles title.

With her sister, Marie, Miss Smith also reached the final of the doubles in a sponsored tournament held earlier in the season. As she is only 15, Miss Smith has plenty of time in which to improve even further. Her performances against much older players in the Canterbury under 17 titles showed her potential. She has been chosen with her sister, Marie, for the North Canterbury senior team to play in the Browning Shield match. Misses D. Corich and L. Ashby, of Kaiapoi are two other promising junior girls. Miss Corich was top seed for the Canterbury under 17 championships in which she reached the semi-final of the singles before being eliminated by the eventual winner, the final of the mixed doubles, and the semi-final of the girls’ doubles. Miss Ashby is a prominent Kaiapoi junior who has done well in inter-club matches in North Canterbury’s senior competition. Although not a junior, Miss C. Smith (Fernside), is a young North Canterbury player who has probably done more to show the ability of country players than any other person this season. She was runner-up in the Canterbury women’s singles championship this season, losing to Mrs L. Fitzgerald in the final With another leading Christchurch player, Mrs D. McKinnel (formerly Miss Norrie), Miss Smith won the women’s doubles championship. She has also reached third place on the Canterbury women’s tennis ladder She will lead the North Canterbury senior women’s team against Hurunui in the Browning Shield match.

An indication of the strength of tennis in Canterbury country districts was given in the sponsored tournament held recently in Christchurch in which all the finalists were drawn from areas outside the city. Country tennis officials expect the performances of their players to make the Canterbury Association even more conscious of the potential of the country areas.