Tense final to Canty women

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34037, 29 December 1975, Page 2

Tense final to Canty women

The Wellington men’s; team and the Canterbury women’s side triumphed in their respective divisions of the Rothmans inter-district tennis tournament after two tension-racked finals at Wilding Park last evening. Wellington beat Auckland on a count-back of sets — eight to seven — to take the men's honours by the slender margin of one championship point. Canterbury heat Auckland by four matches to two in the key game to win the women’s trophy with a two point margin Even match-hardened spectators were in a high state ofi excitement during the j dramatic doubles matches which decided the fate of the two encounters.

The most nerve-tingling. l match was the second! women’s doubles, in which j Christine Newton and Sally, Chapman (Canterbury) were opposed by Lynette Ward; and Brenda Perry (Auckland).; Canternury needed to win 1 the match to clinch victory,! especially as Judith Phillips,! of its other doubles combination. -..a- troubled by cramp In a spirited tight-back, the : Canterbury girls won in two sets, after trailing 0-5 in the; I first set and 2-5 in the sec-, ond. Misses .Newton and Chapman found form just in time to win the first set in a tie-breakei. eight points to. six, and then took the second <et by winning five games ina row. Trie men’s final was deli-! jcately poised after Welling-. [ton and Auckland each won! two matches The crucial point came in the second idoubles when Tony Paruni

i and Peter Smith survived! Il match point in the second set) J and won the next two points] as well to take the tie-; i breaker. I; Although Parun and Smith] I lost the match, their winning] Jof the second set was suffi-j ,I cient to ensure Wellington of! ,! victory A few moments after, (this little drama. Welling-1 ton’s top combination of! : David Simmonds and Richard! i Hawkes overcame Peter ijLangsford and lan Beverley|, ■, i Auckland i in three sets,! I after a furious final exchange i of shots at the net. i Earlier, Simmonds gained]! i. a ridiculously easy win! I against a strangely lethargici, i-Langsford. conceding . only , three games in the'.process, .and Parun. smashing and!' .(■volleying with great elan,]] , | beat Greg Oliver. The veteran, Hawkes, tried]' desperately’ hard to give Wei-! illington a third win, and came 1 :

1' tantalisingly close to his object before losing to the lanky John Mills in a third | set tie-breaker. Beverley was far too experienced for the young [Wellington player. Smith, in [the fourth singles. Canterbury gained a 3-1 (advantage in the women’s singles matches. At one stage (it appeared as if the home [side would win all four i matches, for Shirley Haig, [Canterbury No. 1, established [a 5-0 lead against the ■country’s top-ranked player, iJudith. Connor (Auckland), in; ’the first set. But Miss Connor, hitting] I with- admirable accuracy on I 'both forehand and backhand, i caught and passed her rival, land then fought off Mrs [Haig’s determined counterattack in the second set. Miss Newton had too manyi 'shots in her repertoire for 1 -

the persistent Miss Perry, and Miss Chapman’s consistent stroking and shrewd use of top spin was too much for the comely Miss Ward, who fell over on the court several times. Miss Phillips seemed certain to drub Shelly Monds (Auckland) in the other match, but she dropped the second set when errors crept into her game. After a hardfought third set. Miss Phillips, who is also an international hockey player, ended] Miss Monds’s resistance with] a shot which would have beaten any goal-keeper. Final points were:—

Men.—Wellington 36, Auckland 35, North Shore 24, Canterbury 12, Central Districts 8, Otago 5. Women. —Canterbury 28, Auckland 26, Northern DisI tricts 14, Wellington 8, Otago 4.