Provincial squash rankings

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33966, 6 October 1975, Page 13

Provincial squash rankings

The inclusion of three) junior boys and two girls is the major innovation in the ranking lists issued yesterday by the Canterbury squash selectors (Mr L. G. Milne and Mrs P. Leopold). Last year no Juniors figured at all and the appearance of the four Christchurch players—Rod Hayes, Paul McFadzien, Barrie Matthews, and Pip Monk—and one Sumner girl. Joanne Milne, is a pleasing sign for the future of squash in the province. Hayes, the 18-year-old national junior champion, earned second place in a season where he mixed brilliance with the occasional off-day. Included in his string of fine

i performances were wins over the South Island champion, Barry McNeil, Viv Hargreaves (twice), Lawrence Skurr (three times), and Lin Sparks (twice). McNeil thoroughly deserved his top ranking although his form feU away sadly in the closing rounds—he lost two out of his last three games—while Sparks won fifth place with a great end of the season run, which included wins over Hargreaves and McNeil. Mike Thurgur, the English professional, and Graeme Bird, the former national representative, were the only unbeaten players in the A grade competition. But Thurgur. unranked, played only 10 of the 21 games and Bird (ranked seventh) played in the No. 2 spot, mainly against unranked players. The luckiest player to figure high in the rankings was another fomer New Zealand player, Don Preston. Preston now lives in Greymouth and did not play in the Christchurch club competition; his only appearances in the vicinity of the city were in the South Island championships—he just lost the final to McNeil —and In the national teams event.

WOMEN In the women’s rankings the exchange of the top two places between Ros Stanton (first) and Kathy Graham was a foregone conclusion as the 20-year-old Miss Stanton won all her club games and dropped only three sets. Merle Holland was a trifle lucky to gain the fourth spot seeing that she was out for a great deal of the season, but Misses Milne (eighth) and Monk (fifth) earned their places with good performances against players much their senior. Both the juniors gave the former nationally ranked Mrs Graham a good run when they met her in the concluding rounds of the club competition. The full rankings (with last year’s placings in parenthesis) are:— B. McNeil I (4), R. Hayes 2 (-), D. R. Preston 3 (1), V. J. W. Hargreaves 4 (2). L. C. Sparks 5 (7), L. P. Skurr 6 (8), G. L. Bird 7 (6), P. McFadzien 8 (-), J. G. Foulds 9 (9), B. D. Matthews and B. B. Trangmar equal (16). Women. —R. Stanton 1 (2). K. Graham 2 (1), M. Davenport 3 (7), M Holland 4 (4), P. Monk 5 (-), M. Steele 6 (-), L. Chamberlain 7 (10), J. Milne 8 (-).