Pressure on junior tennis

Press, 23 October 1978, Page 20

Pressure on junior tennis

“All of you go to bed and have a good rest” was the advice given by Mrs N. McMillan, a tournament controller at the Haywrights Canterbury junior hardcourt tennis championships, to the many young contestants at Wilding Park yesterday. She was conscious of the hectic schedule which many players will face today as the tournament committee forces the pace in a bid to bring the championships to an end this evening.

The reason for the rush was that one day’s play was lost because of the heavy rain on Saturday. This was a blow for the committee because it was faced with arranging games for 229 players in four age groups. By reducing matches to one set and assigning some plavers to courts at Mairehau High School and Shirley Bovs’ High School, it was able to bring many events to the semi-final stage by last evening. As is usual with junior tournaments, upsets occurred frequently. One of the most startling was in the under-17 boys’ singles when the second-seeded Steven Baird

was beaten by Simon Wilson, who in turn was put out by Brett Skjellerup. The lofty Nelson player, Graham McKenzie, towered over all his rivals in this "ection but was well beaten in a second-round match by Paul Beumelberg, who went on impressively to reach the semi-finals. Alistair Chapman won comfortably against Michael Todd (South Canterbury) and Todd’s Timaru team-mate, Barry Hayman, eliminated Dean McKinnel in a good, keen game. Russell Pyne beat Stephen Deans, seeded fourth, in the under-19 boys’ singles and Ann Oughton, the fourthseeded player in the under-19 girls’ event, was put out by Angela Pickering. As expected, Nicky Robinson and Ann Davidson advanced confidently to the semi-finals, where they will be joined by I Pickering and Nelson’s Kay Ross. In the under-17 girls’ singles, Andrea Millar (South Canterbury), seeded third, could win only one game in going down to Jill Hibbert. BOYS Singles Under 17 Quarter-finals: A. Chapman beat M. Todd, 6-2; B. Hayman beat D. McKinneU. 6-4; P. Bau-

melburg beat VV. Frew, 6-2; B. , Skjellerup beat S. Wilson, 6-1. I Under 15 Quarter-finals: M. Crosbie beati M. Downes, 6-3; J. Bennett beat G. Ruston, 6-2; G. Lawson beat N. Smith. 6-0; D. McNaughton beat C. Dickson, 6-2. Under 13 Quarter-finals: J. Honeywell beat P. Carter, 6-2; S. Jamieson beat A. de Zwart, 6-4; J. Miller beat J. Adair. 6-3; J. Robinson beat S. McKinnel, 6-3. Doubles Under 19 Semi-final: D. Chapman and P. Seeman beat B. Williams and K. Agar, 6-3, 6-0. Under 13 Semi-finals: J. Honeywell and

J. Robinson beat J. Miller and S. McKinnel. 9.-4; A. de Zwart and J. Adair beat S. Jamieson and N. Murray, 9-8. GIRLS Singles Under 19 Quarter-finals: A. Davidson beat J. Williams, 6-0, 6-0; K. Ross beat N. Tocker, 6-0, 6-0; A. Pickering beat A. Oughton, 6-3, 6-2; N. Robinson beat C. Burke, 6-2, 6-1. Under 17 Quarter-finals: R. Seeman beat J. Clarke, 6-2; J. Hibbert beat A. Millar, 6-1; S. Hughey beat C. Taylor, 6-3; A. Brading beat A. Reese, 6-0. Under 15 Quarter-finals: J. Taylor beat J. Howe, 6-2; E. Daly beat A. Hughey, 6-0; K. Drewett beat H. Barlow, 6-3; J. Pickering beat R. Pearce, 6-2. Under 13 Quarter-finals: V. Ratana beat S. Ford, 6-4; R. Ford beat S. Hughey, 6-3; D. Howison beat P. Murray, 6-1; N. Chambers beat J. Hughey, 6-0. Semi-finals: Ratana beat Ford, 9-1; Howison beat Chambers, 9-8.

Doubles Under 17 Quarter-finals: R. Seeman and A. Brading beat D. Millar and C. Erickson. 6-1; A. Reese and C. Taylor beat C. Leggatt and A. Wilson, 6-3; S. Hughey and A. Miller beat H, Ford and R. White, 6-4; J .Clarke and J. Hibbert beat J. and D. Hills. 6-4. Semi-finals: Seeman and Brading beat Clarke and Hibbert, 6-4. 4-6, 6-2; Hughey and Miller beat Reese and Taylor, 6-1, 6-4. Under 13 Semi-finals: V. Ratana and N. Chambers beat J. Hughey and D. Howison, 9-1; S. and R. Ford beat S. Hughey and P. Murray, 9-6.