M. J. SIMONS IN STATE SQUASH RACKETS SQUAD

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30448, 23 May 1964, Page 11

M. J. SIMONS IN STATE SQUASH RACKETS SQUAD

WHEN for the second successive year, the New Zealand men’s squash rackets team visits Sydney in August for the Australian inter-state series, it is likely to find the present Christchurch champion, M. J. Simons, among the opposition. Simons, the seventh ranked New Zealander, left for Melbourne at the end of the 1963 season, and is expected to be away for several years. His research position at Melbourne Hospital has allowed him time for squash, and at the beginning of May he was

chosen for the Victorian state squad of eight, from which the team of five to play at Sydney will be selected. Simons has already beaten the players ranked from third to sixth in the state, and has lost only to the top pair, W. Hunt and G. Hunt. His prospects of inclusion in the final five must be good. With constant competition —the top A grade players meet each week in interclub matches, and practice together and meet in trials almost every day—it seems probable that Simons, with his enthusiasm and appica-

tion, has already shown marked improvement. His progress to second position for the South Island, and a New Zealand ranking in less than two seasons was quite remarkable, and as the 1963 season progressed he added new shots and more severity to his first-class court coverage, determination and concentration.