Senior tennis begins tomorrow

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33064, 3 November 1972, Page 20

Senior tennis begins tomorrow

(By

A. M. MENZIES)

The Christchurch senior men’s tennis competition will begin tomorrow without last season’s winning club as such, but with a combined team which may be almost as strong. The competition also has a new young team from a club which has not, in its 48 years, been represented in the grade. Linwood Avenue won for the first time last season at its sixth attempt in the competition. But the loss of two players — the top man, C. G. Judge, who has retired, and I. Stanton, who is overseas — made entry this season impossible. At the same time, Wool-

ston, bottom last season, was further weakened by the departure of D. Haworth, so the two clubs have entered a combined Linwood AvenueWoolston side with the best of both —B. J. Aldridge (Woolston), A. James (Linwood Avenue), N. Blackburn (Linwood Avenue), D. Blackwell (Woolston), and C. Hunt (Woolston). It looks to be a side with strength in depth. Still juniors, James and Blackbum lost only one club match each last season, and the evergreen Aldridge plays on soundly year after year. NEW TEAM Shirley is the new team. Long prominent in lower grades, and with a senior women’s team for many years, the club has now

found its encouragement of juniors paying off. Although he has played senior tennis for Woolston. Haworth has been a Shirley member fqr many years. Now two brothers, J. Hampton and P. Hampton, the latter a member of the national development squad; and R. Adams, the Kaiapoi player who was a member of the Canterbury Slazenger Shield team, are considered ready for senior play. The other four teams have all lost players. United, which finished second, led the grade at the half-way stage, winning five matches in succession before R. N. Hawkes left; but then it lost three. It will continue with R. Webster, N. Pattinson, J. Taylor, and

f J. Dickie, plus an Otago imi port, E. Puddle. ! Elmwood, third last season, > has lost its second man, L. : Legge, now working in Fiji; ■ it still, has the others from . last season — W. Edgecumbe, ■ G. Harris, and L. Elliott—and • has gained a former Auck- , lander, H. Loveridge. In adi dition, W. Thom, the team’s r top man of a few years ago, j is keen to come back. r Edgeware’s loss is also its second man, N. Dillon, who i has gone to South Africa. S. 1 Menzies, R. Pratley, and T. ! Mooney, will play again, and - P. Gilmour, a good junior ■ two seasons ago, or C. Wood 3 will be fourth. t North Linwood was a little , unlucky to finish second from 1 bottom last season because

R. Bruce, T. Ralfe and K. Baker, second, third, and fourth respectively, all had good singles records. They will all move up a place because the top man, J. Martin, is now in Britain. A junior, S. Burns, will join the side. POSSIBLE RETURNS These are the teams submitted at the beginning, but the grade might have a midseason injection. Both J. Mitchell and R. McCutcheon are expected to return from overseas. McCutcheon would almost certainly return to United, but Mitchell’s old team, Beckenham, is not now in the grade. He will be a rare catch for someone. Tomorrow’s first round will be Edgeware v. North Linwood; Shirley v. Elmwood; United v. Woolston,