N.Z. finishes seventh in table tennis

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33753, 28 January 1975, Page 16

N.Z. finishes seventh in table tennis

(N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent) ~ MELBOURNE. * New Zealand finished seventh, its expected placing, in the men’s team event at the Commonwealth table tennis championships in Melbourne yesterday.

But the New Zealand women’s team, which also finished seventh, came last in the women’s division and was two placings below its expected position.

On the final day yesterday, the New Zealand men, with their captain Richard Lee back to his best form, easily beat Papua New Guinea 5-0 and Kenya 5-0. The women lost to England, 3-0, and in their final match lost to the third-seeded Indian team.

New Zealand fought hard in these two matches but had thrown away their chances for higher placings with losses on earlier days to Nigeria and Singapore. The English team was In devastating form, easily beating Singapore 5-0 earlier. The English Women, led by a 24-year-old housewife, Jill Hammersley, retained the title they have won at the past two championships. Canada, the English women’s main opposition at Cardiff, suffered a surprise defeat by India yesterday. The Indian women are assured of second place after beating the Canadians, 3-0. Lee won all three of his matches with ease yesterday, to give him a total of five wins in the tournament. James Morris and Gary Murphy also brought their tallies up to five wins apiece while 19-year-old Robert Blair scored his first overseas wins for New Zealand with two good performances against Papua New Guinea. GOOD FIGHT New Zealand’s women put up a good fight before going down to India in the afternoon. Miss Ann Stonestreet hit hard for a singles win and assisted Miss Fogarty to stretch the doubles to a close finish. But Miss Fogarty could not win her singles, and New Zealand lost the tie when Miss Stonestreet lost to the rapidly-improving Indian No. 1 player, Miss Shailaja Salokhe. Play in the Commonwealth singles events begins tomorrow, with English players expected to dominate all of the finals. Third day results were: Men.—New Zealand beat Papua New Guinea 5-0, England beat Singapore 5-0, Australia beat Nigeria 5-1, India beat Canada 5-2, Kenya beat Fiji 5-0, New Zealand beat Kenya 5-0, Fiji beat Papua New Guinea 5-0, India beat Singapore 5-1, Nigeria beat Canada 5-4. Women.—lndia beat Can-

ada 3-0. Australia beat Nigeria 3-0, England beat New Zealand 3-0, India beat New Zealand 3-1. MEN

New Zealand details (New Zealand players first): v. Papua New Guinea: G. Murphy beat D. Petelo, 21-5, 21-13; beat S. Zial, 21-5, 21-9. R. Blair beat R. Purai, 21-10, 21-14; beat Petelo, 21-12, 21-9. R. Lee beat Zial, 21-9, 21-10. v. Kenya: J. Morris beat H. Shah, 21-14, 21-16; beat V. Khanna, 21-16, 21-11. Murphy beat Khanna, 21-6, 21-7. Lee beat B. Shah, 21-9, 21-16; beat H. Shah. 21-15, 21-14. WOMEN v. England: Y. Fogarty lost to L. Howard, 13-21, 6-21. K. Fraser lost to J. Hammersley, 8-21, 16-21. Fraser and Stonestreet lost to K. Mathews and C. Knight, 11-21, 17-21. v. India: Y. Fogarty lost to S. Salokhe, 10-21, 14-21. A. Stonestreet beat I. Puri, 21-19, 11-21, 21-18; lost to Salokhe. 12-21, 9-21. Fogarty and Stonestreet lost to

Salokhe and Puri, 18-21. 21-18.

Jersey, in the Channel Islands, is almost certain to be the venue for the 1977 fourth Commonwealth championships. The secretary of the championships (Mr Charles Wyles) said yesterday that Jersey has the option for the next titles until April this year.