Canty has chance of tennis double

Press, 21 December 1977, Page 36

Canty has chance of tennis double

By

MURRAY OLDS

Canterbury tennis buffs may be excused a feeling of modest complacency as they contemplate the third Rothmans inter-districts championships. to be played at Wilding Park next week. The women’s team will be seeking its fifth consecutive national teams title and must start as tournament favourite, while the men have sufficient depth and class to extend the highlyregarded title-holder, Auckland.

The Canterbury team of Peter Hampton, Stephen Harley, Ralph Webster and Michael Mooney is a powerful combination. Of the four, only Webster has not made the pilgrimage to Europe and there will be few stronger at No. 4 than the diminutive Mooney.

Hampton made an impressive start to the tournament circuit in Wellington recently and has been in fine touch in the inter-club competition, while Harley, though still suffering from an injury sustained in Europe, will be a very competitive No. 2. The doubles pairings have

not yet been announced but' possible combinations might i be Harley and Mooney as the top pair and Hampton and Webster at No. 2. The Auckland team can be expected to provide the home four with some of its toughest opposition, while Wellington, beaten finalist last vear, cannot be underrated, despite the unavailability of the two top players, David Simmonds and Richard Hawkes. Auckland will be led by the fifth-ranked Davis Cup player Peter Langsford, who will be ably supported by three r, iked men in Gary Oliicr, lan Beverly and Ross McGhie. These four formed the team that marched th.ough last year’s contest, losing only five matches in the process. Stephen Temple heads the weakened Wellington side. Temple played at No. 3 in 1976. but is enjoying a highly successful season in the capital and should not be out-gunned by some of the other more illustrious No. I’s. Mark Elley, veteran of the last interdistricts championships and a New Zealand under-20 representative, will

play at No. 2 and the capable Peter Smith and a former Auc! ’inder, Mark Bailley, complete the side. Dennis Radford, the Otago grass court champion, heads the Southern Districts team. He accounted for Hampton in the second round of last year’s tournament and is playing well this season. John Harrop joins Grant W’ebb and John Alexander

and is the only newcomer to the side. The Norther. Districts four will be led by two experienced players in Quinton

Maisey of Waikato and Whakatane’s David Hawkes, while 50-year-old Eric White, a former non-playing Davis Cup team captain, leads Central Districts. He will be assisted at No. 2 by Neil Grant, of Hastings, a former top junior. Only one change has been made to the Canterbury women’s team that strode through the 1976 tournament without a loss. Mrs Shirley Haig makes her return to the side at the expense of the out-of-form Judith Phillips. Mrs Haig was unavailable last year, as she was expecting a baby, and her presence this year can only strengthen the team. It says much for the depth of Canterbury tennis that the selectors can afford to omit Miss Phillips from the side. She has struggled to find top form since her recent return from European competition, and has appeared jaded in inter-club play to date. The Canterbury No. 1 last year was Mrs Robyn Hunt. Her form this season has been as sparkling as ever, and if she can reproduce the quality tennis she exhibited in the 1976 championships — five straight-set wins —

she will be hard to beat. Sally Chapman and Christine Newton, No’s 2 and 3 in the playing order last year, can both be expected to produce match-winning tennis. The pair will form the top doubles combination for Canterbury. Main opposition should come from Auckland, the team of Brenda Perry, Bev Vercoe, Bev Ward and Ann Pooly combining to form an experienced quartet. Another side that can be expected to do well is Northern Districts, which will field a youthful foursome in Sheryl Tebbutt, Helen Harris, Rosemary O’Dea, and Penny Smith. Mr Sam Clarke, a member of the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association’s management committee, is the manager of the men’s team. He is confident his players can do well in the coming tournament, which forms part of the Bass national grand prix. “I reckon they’ll go very well because they’ll be one of the best balanced sides playing. Three of the four have had overseas experience and Ralph Webster is a very competitive player, he said yesterday.

“They are all good team men, and have known and played with each other since Slazenger Shield days. I’m sure they’ll do very well,” said Mr Clarke, who thinks the toughest opposition will come from Auckland.

The manageress of the women’s team, Mrs Pat Leopold, was a little more cautious when asked about her charges’ prospects.

“On paper we should do very well indeed. The team is solid right through, it’s very exciting and very experienced. I just hope they’ll be victorious.

“There is very little difference in the' playing standard of any of the girls, and Shirley Haig is back to top form. The team has great depth and if you can rely on your No. 3 and 4 it makes it a lot easier,” said Mrs Leopold. The playing order will not be announced until tomorrow evening, as the interclub competition was rained out on Saturday half-way through the round. Ranking matches are to be played to work out the order. The tournament begins at W’ilding Park on Boxing Day.