Yee Chow Boi set for table tennis title

Press, 14 August 1976, Page 52

Yee Chow Boi set for table tennis title

By 808 SCHUMACHER Maurice Burrowes and Wayne Adamson, Canterbury’s two top table tennis players, have won the Canterbury residential singles title for the last four years, but have chosen to miss the championship today. In their absence, Yee Chow Boi had been seeded first, and should win his third major tournament for the season. The pen-grip Malaysian student has played his best tabie tennis this season, and has won the Mid-Canterbury and Canterbury A grade championships against strong opposition. Les Stewart, who won the Otago singles title a fortnight ago, has been seeded second ahead of John Armstrong, the winner of the event on four previous occasions and a beaten finalist in the last two years. Stewart compiled a fine record in the A grade interclub competition which finished on Wednesday. He won 38 of his 42 singles matches, beating Adamson, Yee (twice), and Armstrong (twice.) "

However, Stewart has not always shown the same flair in open championships. Today will be his final serious workout before he makes his debut for Canterbury in the New Zealand inter-associations teams’ championship later this month. Armstrong, runner-up to Adamson in the North Otago championship last Saturday, has not met with much success since winning the Canterbury Easter Open in April. He has possibly made matters more difficult for himself bv experimenting with different surfaces on his bat. But noone moves better or fights harder than the Riccarton veteran.

Graeme Rhind, restricted in his appearances this winter through illness, is seeded fourth. Several players ranked below him might be determined to prove the selectors wrong in rating him so high. The defending champion, Jan Morris, and the 1974 title-holder, Phillipa Marks, are the top seeds in the women’s singles. It would be a major surprise if they did not meet in the final.