Skurr scrapes through

Press, 9 April 1977, Page 48

Skurr scrapes through

[ Lawrence Skurr was by : far the luckiest of the first>i round winners when the I Sumner open squash tourna,ment began yesterday after- . noon. The talented High School i Old Boys player was cornIpeting in his first tournament of the season and it showed. He started shakily .and lost the first game to | Geoff Tait (Burnside), in spite of a spirited revival, and then had to come from 3-6 down to take the second, i after winning the last five [points in successive rallies. I Tait took the third game' very comfortably, 9-1, and although Skurr levelled in [the fourth he trailed, 1-8. ini I the final game and had to' withstand several match balls against him before finally winning, 10-8. The .score stood at 4-8 while the! 'hand-in changed no less than II times. A hopeful Skurr said afterwards that the narrow victory might be a “good! omen". Two years ago he won the same tournament after earlier scraping a win over Barrie Matthews in the! first round. In 1975 Skurr just beat: Rod Hayes (Christchurch), 1 10-9, in the final game of an enthralling final which went the full distance but he will have to improve consid-1

ylerably on yesterday’s per- - formance if he is to extend ej Hayes when the pair meet at -11.40 p.m. today. - Hayes, the top seed, [breezed through his first Iround match yesterday and ■ j allowed his promising oppo- - Inent, Rex McDonald (Celtic, t|Timaru), only the meagre 7 total of six points. Paul McFadzien (Christ--11 church), seeded fourth, also , | won in three straight games i although his Celtic oppo- , nent, Kevin Leary, won six »I successive points in the seclond game. •’ Both the other seeds, Lyn 1 Sparks (Wigram) and Barry I McNeil (High School Old II Boys), dropped a game but ('never looked in any real i danger of losing their i matches. •. McNeil, seeded third, lost j|the second game to John ijPinel (Oamaru) but gave the i left-handed visitor little I chance in the two final ’ games. II Sparks started in very i convincing fashion to win ‘ the first two games and i enjoyed a “purple patch” of J ls straight points but his [opponent, John Souter (Ti;imaru), honed his touch game 'in the third which he won, • 9-3. : The physical education instructor won the fourth I game comfortably enough

and said later that he had never really been worried although admitting some frustration in the third when he ’’set up” Souter, a former New Zealand Davis Cup player, “for those tennis [drop shots of his.” Four women’s A grade [matches were played yester|day and Ros Stanton (Old Boys), the Canterbury No. 1, was the only seeded player in action. She dropped just eight points to Maryanne Redpath (Dunedin). Results: — MEN i First round.—R. W. Hayes ! (Christchurch) beat R. McDonald (Celtic), 9-3, 9-3, 9-0; L. P. Skurr (High School Old Boys) beat G. Tait (Burnside), 9-10, 9-6, | 1-9, 9-3, 10-8; D. R. Preston (Gerymouth) beat W. J. Tochard 1 (H. 5.0.8. 9-1, 9-3, 9-5; P. G. McFadzien (Christchurch) beat , K. Leary (Celtic), 9-1, 9-7, 9-4; L. jC. Sparks (Wigram) beat J. I Souter (Timaru), 9-4, 9-1, 3-9, 9-6; | V. J. W. Hargreaves (H. 5.0.8. | beat R. Goodall (Invercargill),! 5-9, 9-5, 9-5, 9-1; I. B. McNeil i (H. 5.0.8. beat J. Pinel (Oamaru), 19-6, 0-9, 9-6, 9-2: B. D. Matthews (Christchurch) beat M. D. Grant i I (Christchurch), 9-7, 9-1, 9-6. WOMEN First round.—C. Bowen j; (Temuka) beat P. Goodall (Inver- , cargill), 7-9, 9-6, 9-7, 9-2; L. Symes ! (Christchurch) beat J. Aitchison (Otago), 9-3, 9-1, 9-5. 1 Second round.—R. Stanton (H. 5.0.8. beat M. Redpath , (Otago), 9-3, 9-3, 9-2; K. Graham ■ (Burnside) beat P. Anderson ■ (Oamaru). 9-4. 9-0, 9-0. I: