Close tie expected

Press, 26 August 1978, Page 52

Close tie expected

PA Invercargill The New Zealand badminton team’s captain, Jeff Robson, is expecting a very close tie when Japan plays New Zealand in a Thomas Cup tie in Invercargill over the week-end. “The Japanese are extremely good and cannot be underestimated,” he said yesterday, “but our players are in "good form and it should be a close, and thrilling tie. “Hopefully, playing at home under our own conditions will be an advantage for us.” Both teams have been at Invercargill since the start of the week and have been training intensively. The first game will be between Bryan Purser, who recently returned from the Edmonton Commonwealth Games, where he won a bronze medal, and Japan’s top player, Kinji Zeniya. In the second match this evening, the New Zealand singles and doubles cham-

pion from last year, Ross Livingstone, will play the sec o n d-ranked Japanese singles player, Masoa Tsu« chida. The Purser brothers will combine to meet the secondranked Japanese doubles pair of Nobutaka Ikeda and Shoichi Toganoo. Livingstone and Otago’s Steve Wilson will then face a very tough pair, Yoshitaka lino and Masoa Tsuchida, the No. 1 Japanese doubles pair. Four games tomorrow will complete the tie.