Varying results for Chch squash players

Press, 13 May 1981, Page 26

Varying results for Chch squash players

Christchurch squash players competed over the week-end in tournaments at Henderson, Mount Maunganui, Island Bay, and Oamaru with varying results. Two Canterbury representatives, Rod Hayes and Craig Hibbert, competed in the ?6000 Henderson Brownbuilt open with the former performing the best. Hayes got through to the semi-finals where he lost in straight games to the former world amateur champion, Cam Namcarrow (Australia). The other semi-final resulted in a narrow win by another Australian, Frank Donnelly, after trailing, 3-8, in the fifth game against Neven Barbour (Auckland). In the final Namcarrow took only 30min to dispose of Donnelly while Barbour had a similar 3-0 result against Hayes in the play-off for third place. Hibbert was put out of the main event in the first round, losing 9-7 in the fourth to the fast-improving Waikato player, Dean Lovett,

ranked No. 8 on the latest New Zealand list. The most successful of the travelling players was Christchurch football’s John Oakley who beat Steve McDonald (Invercargill), 9-3, 9-4, 6-9, 10-8, in the men’s A grade final of the Fontana Oamaru open. Oakley overcame a problem with blistered feet to win quite convincingly. His game was largely error-free and his anticipation and speed around the court were strong points, but in the last two games McDonald sent him the wrong way on quite a few occasions. McDonald hit several winners with drops and blistering drives. In the semi-finals Oakley beat Max Morrison (Suburbs), 9-6, 9-5, 9-4, and McDonald overcame the former Southern Districts representative, Bob Bowman (Oamaru), 9-5, 9-3, 2-9, 9-5. Surprisingly, Oakley’s sister, Carolyn, fell to a Cgrader from Oamaru, Freda Walker, in the women’s A

grade semi-finals. The top seeded Oakley (Otago University) who had won the Southland open two weeks earlier Jost, 8-10, 2-9, 9-1, 9-4, 5-9, to Walker and then to the Timaru junior, Tania Cusmans, in a five-game play-off for third place. The women’s final, an allOamaru affair, was won well by the second seed, Jill Bruce, over Walker in straight games, 9-2, 9-5,10-8. In the lower grades Brian Roughan had a straight games victory over Owen Dorsey (Duntroon) in the men’s D grade final while his fellow Christchurch club member, Gil R. Smith was runner-up to Steve Grimmer (Timaru Celtic) in the E grade final. Several Canterbury juniors performed creditably in the North Island age-group championships at Mount Maunganui thougli all were eliminated before reaching the finals. The unluckiest of the group was Sumner’s Justine Marriott who lost to Lisa Baker (Edgecumbe), 10-9, 9-6, 4-9, 3-9, 9-7, in the semi-finals of the under-15 girls' final. Mark Crosbie (Burnside), under-19 boys, Blair Michelson (Sumner), under-17 boys, Steven Wren (Sumner), under-17 boys, Michael Allred (Burnside), under-15 boys, and Susan Wasley (Burnside), under-17 girls, were all eliminated in the quarter-finals of their respective age-groups. West Coast’s representative. Adele Ellery, suffered a similar fate in the quarter-finals of the under-19 girls’ event. The Island Bay open titles were won by Stuart Davenport (Havelock North) and Linda McClure (Upper Hutt) with Sumner’s Merle Holland runner-up in the special plate. Davenport, now ranked No. 3 in New Zealand behind the touring professionals, Bruce Brownlee and Ross Norman, thrashed Mark Smith (Tawa), 9-0, 9-4, 9-2, in the men's final.