SQUASH RACKETS R. G. Pattinson Beaten In Opening Round

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30154, 11 June 1963, Page 15

SQUASH RACKETS R. G. Pattinson Beaten In Opening Round

The defeat in three games of a former title-holder and frequent finalist, R. G. Pattinson, by M. D. Grant was the highlight of the opening matches in the Christchurch

squash rackets championship last evening. Other interesting first round matches were the four-game encounter between M. R. Blank and J. H. N. Pine, and the splendid form of L. G. Milne, who beat his Christchurch club team-mate, N. W. McGillivray, with surprising ease.

The three seeded players in the A grade who have played survived without trouble, but the fourth seeded D. D. M. Stewart in the B grade could not take a game from the young and advancing lefthander, N. A. Justice. One A grade first round match, between P. L. Mackenzie, seeded fourth, and L. G. Holder, has yet to be played. Grant now appears really to fulfil the promise he showed when he came to Christchurch from Timaru two seasons ago. His fine all-round performance against Pattinson was surprising in that Pattinson could not take a game. Grant was able to keep the game very tight with good drives to a length down the walls. Pattinson has seldom been so often wrong-footed. He found that Grant, extremely agile and moving particularly well, reached most of his drops and he was forced to rely almost entirely on length. Milne gave a fine display of controlled squash to beat McGillivray. , Blank and Pine occupied the court for more than an .hour in playing four games, and Pine as usual tried very hard. But Blanks experience and command of the angles and court position eventually proved decisive. Results were:--A Grade Championship.— First round: G. A. Davidson beat M. O. Holdsworth. 9-3. 9-1. 9-5: M. R. Blank beat J. H N. Pine. 2-9. 9-4. 9-1, 9-«: M D Grant beat A G Pattinson. 9-4. 9-5, 9-7; D J Triggs beat R Goodall. 9-7. 10-8. 9-4: P. M Hill beat B. J Shirlaw by default; L. G. Milne beat N W. McGillivray. 9-1. 9-8. 9-1: M J. Simons beat C C Kissling. 9-4. 9-5, 9-3.

B Grade Championship.—First round: E. R. Morris beat J. S. Boys. 9-1, 9-2, 9-1; C. A. McDonald beat W. Thom, 9-2. 9-0, 0-9. 9-6; S. Suckling beat K. J. Brown. 9-3, 10-8, 5-9, 9-1; P. D Preston beat D. G. Hamilton, 10-9, 9-1, 9-5; N. A. justice beat D. D. M. Stewart. 9-2. 10-9. 9-3; J. F. Cotter beat P. Andrews, 9-5. 9-6, 9-2; E. C. Arundel beat R. M. Hancock. 9-6, 5-9. 3-6. 9-7, 9-2; R M. Garrett beat M Surgrue. 10-9. 9-5, 9-2.

C Grade Championship.—First Round: J. L. Williams beat I J. Botting. 4-9, 9-6, 9-3, 10-8: A. H. Gould beat J. M. Cranford. 10-8, 9-4. 9-2: G. Wallingford beat G. L. Richards. 10-9. 9-5, 9-5: V. M. Colebourne beat N. Padfield. 9-4. 9-5. 10-8; B. G. Hamilton beat J. Pearse. 7-9. 9-7, 9-6 9-7: G. W. Graham beat A. C. Keegan, 10-8, 9-1. 9-3; P Norris beat B. Prlsk, 10-9. 9-6. 5-9, 9-5; B Andrews beat M P. Boland. 9-3. 9-3. 6-9. 3-9. 9-0