G. L. Bird In Top Form At Oamaru

Press, Volume C, Issue 29623, 20 September 1961, Page 13

G. L. Bird In Top Form At Oamaru

With some of the finest and most devastating play ever seen in this country, G. L. Bird (Timaru), the national junior champion, brilliantly won the last squash rackets tournament of the season, the North Otago championships, at Oamaru. Beating each of his four opponents, including two of the visting Australian team. With almost ridiculous ease, Bird took the title without the loss of a set, and conceded no more than five points in any one set. He has never before been in such consistently fine form throughout a tournament:

certainly he has seldom won a championship title so convincingly.

Bird has disappointed often this season, and produced his best only in spasmodic bursts.

When the New Lealand selectors—not without some justification—dropped him from the team to meet the Australians this Saturday, most enthusiasts awaited with interest his reaction to this major set-back. He has now answered his critics in the most effective manner possible. Unseeded Unseeded because of the presence of the four Australians, Bird disposed of R. Thomas, the South Australian champion, and R. Pratt, the Australian junior champion, so easily that the visitors looked almost outclassed. Thomas scored only 3. 4, 0 in his three sets, and Pratt managed 3,1, and 5. In the final Bird played his club-mate, K. R. Green, who had beaten the No. 2 Australian, P. Papst, in four sets and P. W. Mackenzie (Oamaru) in five. Green has had a number of wins over Bird, and is seldom beaten in less than four

or five sets. Moreover it was thought that Green, unlike the Australians, would try to avoid providing Bird with much pace to work on, and would gain some advantage from their many previous matches.

But with only two points in each set, Green suffered one of his most crushing defeats ever, as Bird continued his wonderful form in the final. Throughout the weekend he Set out, as never before, to win each point, set, and match in the quickest possible time. At last he maintained complete concentration. foolish mistakes were virtually eliminated, and the well-known danger signs heralding a disastrous lapse were never evident. While he hit many firm winners on both wings, a feature of his game was his greatly improved use of the drop shot and more judicious judgement with the boast. He played the drop beautifully, fully demonstrating its value when used by such a hardhitter. Unfortunate It is perhaps unfortunate that this display of Bird’s very best form should come at the end of the season but it is easy to overlook the amount of squash he lost

early because of illness. South Islanders will watch the performance of the New Zealand team this Saturday with more than usual interest, and the Australians, who are now in the North Island, will be wondering just what lies ahead if there are five players better than Bird yet to be met.

But if this were true, the future of squash rackets in New Zealand would be assured. Instead of approaching hopefully a match against a team comprising mainly Australian juniors, New Zealand would be able to meet Australia's best four with some real and justifiable confidence.