Mitchell Retains Top Ranking

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31865, 18 December 1968, Page 20

Mitchell Retains Top Ranking

J. W. Mitchell, ranked eighth in New Zealand, has retained his place at the top of the Canterbury men’s tennis list in the first rankings for this season announced by the selectors (Mrs P. Leopold, Mr M. Agar, and Dr W. J. Smith) yesterday. J. Martin, who was sixth at I the end of last season, has! gained a notable promotion to second, in place of the Australian. B. Leach, who has returned home, and ahead of R. N. McCutcheon, third last season, and P. Angland, fourth, both of whom have held those places. Ranking matches for seniors and juniors have been held regularly and the junior lists were also announced yesterday by Mr R. Hampton, chairman of the junior association. In the senior rankings some other matches besides those in the ranking series may have been taken into account because Martin beat McCutcheon in a club match last week-end. Other men who have improved considerably on last season are I. D. Stanton, who has risen from ninth to fifth, and P. Boatwood, who has improved from tenth to sixth. A number of juniors have I taken part in senior ranking

series as well as in the junior matches. The top boy on the men’s list is B. Smyth, at fourteenth, who is also top of the under-17 list, and ahead of some under-19 players who have played in senior matches. This feature is even more interesting among the women and girls. Misses R. Legge and R. Dillon have the top two places and Miss J. Bishop, who was second last season, is not playing. However, the sixth place is filled by Miss G. Iredale, who is only fifth on the under-17 list behind Misses P. Bamford and R. Smith, who are tenth and fourteenth, respectively, on the senior list. Miss S. Field, who was not ranked at the end of last season, returns to the women’s list in third place, and Misses J. Habgood and G. Hampton are fourth and fifth, compared with fifth and sixth last season. The lists are:— SENIOR Men: J. W. Mitchell 1. J. Martin 2. R. N. McCutcheon 3, P. Angland 4, I. Stanton 3 P. Boatwood 6. A. Brooks 7, W. Thom S. B. Crofts 9, J. Dickie 10. G. Boddy 11. J. Cullington 12. R. Praxley 13 B. Smyth 14. L. Elliott 15. N. Dillow 16. R. Webster 17 R. Tuck IS. N. Pattinson 19, D. Harworth 20. B. Ward 21. 'A. Ralf 22 F. Verseeg 23. D.

Findlav 24. G. Clifford 25. I. Webster 26, R. Moore 27, W. And erson 28. P. Buxton 29. D. Grets 30 R. Freeby 31. Women: Miss R. Legge 1. Miss R Dillon 2. Miss S. Field 3. Miss .1. Habgood 4. Miss G. Hampton 5, Miss G. Iredale 6. Miss C. Ralfe 7. Mrs P. Boatwood * Miss E. Price 9. Miss P Bam ford 10. Miss S. Moore It Mrs D Macdonald 12. Miss A. Meates 13. Miss R. Smith 14. Miss E. Dunne 15. BOYS Under-17: B. Smyth 1, N. Paitinson 2, R. Adams 3, P. Mathewson 4. P. Dewsbury 5, T. Mooney 6, M. Peacock 7. D. Schroder S, R. Versteeg 9. G. O’Malley 10. C. Brockett 11. C. Tuck 12. Under-15: R. Dillon 1. P. Mitchell 2, P. Gilmore 3 T. James 4. N. Blackburn 5. B. Sanders 6. J. Hampton 7, P Cullen 8. P. Davey 9. J. Smyth 10. G. Rhind 11, B. Candy 12. P. Davidson 13. G. Clark 14. C. Buxton 15. Under-13: P. Hampton 1. T. de Vries 2. G. Sparrow 3. W. Andrew 4, S. Hughes 5. B Wilson 6 A. Kearney 7. P. Crisp 8, C. Wilson 9. P. Ayson 10. GIRLS Under-17: P. Bamford 1. R Smith 2, A. Meates 3. E. Dunne 4, G, Iredale 5. S. Moore 6, M. Brosnahan 7, R. Muschamp 8, C. O'Rourke 9, J. Dodgshun 10. M. Cross 11. J. Breen 12, B. Loughnan 13. Under-15: J. Phillips 1. P. Smitheran 2, J. Brook 3, S. Sparrow 4 B. McDonald 5, M. Gallagher 6, P. Feilding 7, E. Meates 8, A. Watson 9. E. Smith 10. J. Browne 11. N. Freebornc 12. L. Loughnan 13, P. Coffey 14. Under-13: A. Mehalski 1. S. Salmons 2. M. Mitchell 3. 1). Brownlees 4, C. Meates 5. J. Ellies 6.

Secondary and primary school cricketers in Christchurch have been getting instruction from M. J. Horton, the national coach, during the last two days. Horton who will captain Northern Districts in the coming Plunket Shield series, also coached the Canterbury Brabin Shield team while in the city. The photograph shows Horton adjusting the bowling [ action of Gerard Guillen, I son of the former West Indies and New Zealand representative, S. G. Guillen, during one of his sessions with primary school pupils.