Mrs Pearce within ace of victory

Press, 13 November 1982, Page 64

Mrs Pearce within ace of victory

JOHN BROOKS

Carol Pearce might be in the autumn of her tennis playing career, but she proved at Wilding Park yesterday that she is far from being a spent force. In the quarter-finals of the women's A grade singles in the Farmer, Trading Company Canterbury closed championships, she was within an ace of ousting the fourth-seeded Angela Bradin?- _

Mrs Pearce was serving for the match at 6-5 and 4015 in the second set when she made an understandable error. Instead of moving in for the kill she decided to stay back and attempt to lure her rival into error.

But Miss Brading is very steady under pressure, and she salvaged the game, then

the second set. and finally the match after a protracted battle fought chiefly from the baselines over two hours and a half.

A looping forehand and an accurate two-handed backhand were the main weapons in Miss Brading’s armoury, and her concentration never faltered. Mrs Pearce, too, played judiciously, and her effort .was all the more remarkable for the fact that she had come through a prolonged three-set match at North Linwood in the morning.

Thursday’s rain caused the organisers to move firstround singles rivals to club courts at Elmwood. Shirley, Avonside, Edgeware and North Linwood before recalling them to Wilding Park in the afternoon

The only seeded player to fall by the wayside in these encounters was Barry Taylor, who was edged out by Alan Adair in a keenly contested second set.

The top-seeded Hugh Robinson beat Bruce Williams comfortably, and the players expected to be his main rivals for the title, Brett Hibbert and Michael Mooney, were also successful. Hibbert, however, was kept up to his work by Stephen Baird, but there was a suspicion that the former Canterbury champion was not in his most merciless mood.

Ralph Webster wore a purposeful air as he romped away from Alistair Chapman, dropping only one game, and Peter McCormack was resourceful against an eager opponent in David Lawn.

Hibbert’s quarter-final rival will be Phillip Seeman, the sturdy Fendalton lefthander, who limbered up impressively by eliminating first Richard Dalman and then Gary Lawson, both in straight sets. Facing Mooney today will be Brett Skjellerup, the recent conqueror of Robinson in inter-club play. He was thoroughly tested by the experienced Marty Searle, but came out on top in the third set.

Doubles results matched expectations, but Hibbert and Mooney were far from their sharpest and took some harsh treatment from the Elmwood pairing of McCormack and Phillip Murray.

Shirley Haig moved unswervingly into the A

grade women's semi-finals with a no-nonsense win against Wendy Bryan. Her next opponent will be Julianne Taylor, who drove strongly to the corners and used the lob judiciously to defeat an earnest rival in Delia O'Malley. Miss Brading’s semi-final opponent will be Jane Howe, who played with style and guile to overcome Vicki Ratana's challenge. Results were:— Men’s singles Second round: H. Robinson beat B. Williams. 6-2. 6-2: P. McCormack beat D. Lawn. 6-2. 75; P. Seeman beat G. Lawson, 64. 6-4; B. Hibbert beat s. Baird. 64, 7-5; A. Adair beat B. Taylor. 63, 7-5; R. Webster beat A. Chapman. 6-1. 6-0; B. Skjellerup beat M. Searle, 6-4. 3-6, 6-4; M. Mooney beat S. Jamieson. 6-2. 6-1.

Men's doubles First round: Robinson and B Clark beat L. Glass and Skjellerup. 5-7. 6-2, 6-2; Lawson and Adair beat C. Munden and G. Main. 6-1. 6-3; Seeman and D. Chapman beat G. Rodley and S Agar, 6-2, 6-2: G. Smith and D. McKay beat Williams and R. Dalman. 6-3, 5-7. 6-4; Baird and M. Hammond beat P. Fitzmaurice and A. Salton, 6-4. 2-6. 6-3; Hibbert and Mooney beat McCormack and P. Murray. 6-4, 7-6. Women’s singles First round: W. Bryan beat D. Lonie, 6-7, 6-3, 6-1; D. O'Malley beat J. Hibbert. 6-3, 6-4; C. Pearce beat J. Lavender. 4-6. 6-3. 7-5; V. Ratana beat R. Wilson. 76, 6-2. Quarter-finals: S. Haig beat Miss Bryan, 6-1. 6-0; J. Taylor beat Miss O'Malley. 6-2. 6 >3; J. Howe beat Miss Ratana. 6-2. 6-2; A. Brading beat Mrs Pearce. 3-6. 7-6, 6-3.