United stays on top as B.N.Z. contest enters section play

Press, 24 December 1979, Page 19

United stays on top as B.N.Z. contest enters section play

Tennis j

By JOHN BROOKS The title-holder anc present leader in the B.N.Z men’s senior tennis com petition, United, will play ir the “tough” section of thi (contest when matches re jsume on January 26. I The field of eight was di jvided into two sections al the end of play at Wilding ; Park on Saturday. The grouf ■ winners will play off in a (grand final on March 8 i First round points will be ! carried forward into section I play. j -United maintained its (competition lead by easily (disposing of Sumner but ! Edgeware fell at the last I hurdle and lost its encounter and second place in the contest to Elmwood. j The outcome of this close (contest on Saturday meant i that Edgeware would be in (the same section as United (along with Avonside and [Woolston, teams to be | treated with respect. The four sides in the other section will be Elmwood. North Linwood, Shirley, and Sumner. United leads the competition with 63 points, followed by Elmwood (53), Edgeware (51), North Lin-

wood (44), Avonside (42), Shirley (38), Woolston (29), and Sumner (16). A promoted player, Peter McCormick, was Elmwood’s man of the hour in the exciting win against Edgeware. With Elmwood holding a 3-2 lead in rubbers, McCormick went out to play Barry Knight, who has an unbeaten record in singles and doubles this season, knowing that a straight-sets loss would tip the scales Edgei ware’s way. | McCormick responded to Ithe challenge. Down 2-4. in Ithe first set, he played puriposefully to win four games in a row for the set. Knight, attacking better, claimed the second set and recovered from 2-5 in the third to reach 5-5. The match ended in a tiebreaker in which McCormick was full of cool competence and deservedly carried off the honours. I Earlier. Warren EdgeIcumbe hustled and bustled I Noel Dillon off the court to [win an important singles for Elmwood, and Bill Thom’s ! deftness and experience (carried him through against Simon Agar in a match of see-sawing fortunes. At the top, Michael Moo-

ney gained Edgeware’s only • singles win, toppling Ken (Elliott with some good fullbodied shots from the back land volleying judiciously. But his service still looked jin need of improvement. ' The doubles set the scene for the encounter. Both were 'bitterly contested and both jwent to three sets. i United waltzed away from |Sumner, ending speculation, (that the seaside team was) (about to start a “charge.” It had had its first win in 18 .months the previous Satur-1 ,dav. Mark Tiffen. Sumner’s 'busy No. 1, made an earnest, !attempt to punch the ball iwide to the wings against 'Hugh Robinson. But the United No. 1, playing with .deceptive nonchalance, kept the winners coming in a steadv stream. I With his regular partner, Lindsay Walton, Robinson routed Tiffen and Geoff Hayes in the top doubles land when Ralph Webster;

(burnt off the underdog’s anJchor man, Ryan McCutcheon, Sumner’s last hopes iof resistance vanished. The closest contest was between Avonside and Shirley. which ended with rubbers even and Shirley ahead by eight sets to seven. The surprise packet for Avonside was Richard Wilding, who won his doubles with Arch Zaloum and then beat Rus- ■ sell Pyne in an entertaining j three-set match. In the morning Wilding had played for the club’s senior-reserve team and had been well beaten by Mike

-Sibley (St Ninians). In spite of the Wilding contribution, Avonside did (not have quite enough strength to shade Shirley, i I For the winner, Brett Hibbert was a dominant figure; 'and he gave Alan Croad a going-away present of a dif-j ferent kind by thumping him I ■ with the loss of only two games in the top singles. Croad made a determined I stand in the third game of the second set. taking it to deuce six times before dropping his serve. It was to be a Custer-like effort for hej was then over-run by the ilithe Shirley player, the set' lasting only 17min.

Croad is a good player and a fit one but Hibbert’s ramrod returns of service, booming drives, and sharp volleys were too much for him. ’ The Hibbert service looked impressive, too, and with the willing assistance of Bruce Clark the Shirley and Canterbury No. 1 polished off Croad and Marty Searle in the doubles. Another player to attract attention was Stephen Harley, who now holds the Wellington and Canterbury singles titles. He played soundly in a brisk wind but encountered solid competition, particularly in the first set, from Woolston's Colin Hunt. Douglas Chapman struck back for Woolston with an impressive win against Mike Purcell (North Linwood). Chapman spared his rival only one game. Then the pendulum swung back, with Barry Finch showing superior control to oust David Lawn in a match in which Hunt, as umpire, called foot faults on both players. The 40-year-o!d Barry Aldridge chased every ball athletically but could not stop Jim Martin (North Linwood), even though one of his shots hit the head of Martin's young son, Danny. This match caused a visitor to the park, Jim Mitchell, a former top Canterbury player, to feel like Rip van Winkle. The last thing he saw before leaving Christchurch 15 years ago was Aldridge playing Martin in an inter-club singles. Results: — Elmwood 4, Edgeware 2 K. H. Elliott lost to M. Mooney, 3-6, 2-6; W. Edgecumbe beat N. R. Dillon. 6-1. 6-1; W. Thom beat S. Agar, 6-0, 2-6. 6 4; P. McCormick beat B. T. Knight. 6-4.. 3-6. 7-6. Elliott and McCormick lost to Mooney and Knight, 5-7, 6-3. 3 6; Thom and Edgecumbe beat Dillon and Agar. 6-3, 4-6. 6-2 Shirley 8 jets, Avonside 7 B. Hibbbert beat A. Croad. 6 2, 6-0; B Clarke lost to M. Searle, 6-7, 6-4. 3-6; R. P'-ne lost to R. J. Wildmg. 6-2, 6-7. 0-6; M. Wilson beat A. Zaloum. 6-4. 4-6. 6-4 Hibbert and Clark beat Croad and Searle. 6-4. 6-3: Pine and Wilson lost to Zaloum and Wilding. 6-7. 4-6. United i, Sumner 0 H. Robinson heat M. Tiffen. 6-1, 6-3: R. D Webs’—• ben’ R. M. McCutcheon. 6-0. 6>3: 1 Walton beat G. Hayes, 6-2, 6-4; N.

Robinson and Walton Tiffen and Hayes. 61, 6-i; Webster and Patun.son be*t McCutcheon and Blackwell, 6-3. North Linwood 4, Woolston 2 S. Harley beat C. A. Hunt. 6 4, 6-2; J. P. Martin beat R. J. Aldridge. 6-4 6-1. M. J. Purcell lost to D. Chapman, 1-6, 0-6, B, Finch beat D. Lawn, 6-1. 6-4 Harley and Martin beat Chap« man and Lawn. 6-4. 6 1; Purcell and Finch lost to Hunt and Pattinson heat D Blackwell. 6-2. Aldridge. 6 4. 2-6. 2-6.