Testing time for badminton star

Press, 24 August 1976, Page 26

Testing time for badminton star

For Alison Ross, Canterbury's top woman badminton player, the coming weeks promise to mark an important stage in ber career.

On August 27 she will leave for the Australian open championships in Adelaide and these will be followed almost immediately by the New Zealand championships beginning on September 7. at Rotorua.

This season has already been a very successful one for the 19-year-old Miss Ross. She started it well by winning the women s singles at the Canterbury Queen's Birthday tournament and later in June she won the South Island title at Dunedin. On both these occasions she beat the former New Zealand representative. Glenys Waller in the final Last week end Miss Ross collected her third major title for the season by retaining her Canterbury singles crown, her third successive victory in the event.

It was. no doubt, the consistence of her play this season that earned Miss Ross a place tn the New Zealand team to go to Adelaide. Four women piavers were Invited, the other selections being the nationallyranked trio of Lindsay Shirley. Lynette Ward, and Alison Gow. It will be Miss Ross’s second badminton trip to Australia. Two years ago she completed in the Australian junior championships in Brisbane without any great success. But after a season, last vear in which her pro-

Kress was minimal. Miss Ross does appear to be realising much ot the promise she showed as a youngster.

Her game is certainly more solid than it was 12 months ago and in both her Queen s Birthday and South Island victories she displayed a calm that enabled her to recover from trailing positions. Her progress this year has beer further recognised by a seeding—No 7—in the women’s open singles at Rotorua. However. uhile it might be expecting too much at this stage for her to get beyond the quarterfinals Miss Ross could make a bold bid for the under-23 title.

• For this event she has been | seeded second, behind Mary. Livingston (Auckland*, who is a • -urprise omission from the team to go to Adelaide Canterbury will have a second ; entrant at Rotorua. She is Diane Erikson, who is the fourth seed in the under 23 singles. The only man to have entered !is Peter Whiting, whose onlv open seeding is at No. 3 with Nigel Skelt in the men’s doubles. However. Whiting is favoured to retain the under 23 singles title he took last year There is one other national title that could come to Canterbury. This is the veteran men’s doubles where Albie Duckmantnn and Ron Macefield, the third seeds, will attempt to improve on their effort last year of getting to the semi finals Don Reid j and Brian Croft has also been » entered.