Away players top seedings

Press, 10 January 1984, Page 26

Away players top seedings

By

JOHN BROOKS

The singles titles at the Skellerup All Star Canterbury open tennis championships are expected to be whisked out of the province yet again, judging by the seedings which were announced yesterday. • Ironically, the two Otago competitors who ‘ head the men’s list, Brett Hibbert and Phillip Seeman, both played their inter-club tennis in Christchurch up until Christmas.

The women’s seedings are topped by Michelle Parun, aged 17, a Hutt Valley girl who has won the singles crowns at each of the last two national circuit tournaments in Nelson and Blenheim.

However, she cannot afford to feel too confident of her chances in the Canterbury event, which starts today at Wilding Park. This is because the field includes Elizabeth Daly, her conqueror in the New Zealand

girls’ 18 years singles final on Central Park, Wellington, 11 days ago. Miss Daly, the former Southlander now resident in

Christchurch, has been seeded third, behind Canterbury’s main hope, Sally Moorfield. She won the title two seasons ago and was runner-up last summer to the national champion,

Brenda Perry. All six seeded players in the men’s singles are from outside Christchurch. Behind Hibbert and Seeman are Malcolm Elley (Wellington), runner-up in last year’s Canterbury final to David Lewis (Auckland), James Dunphy (Hutt Valley), a former Davis Cup squad member, Stephen Salthouse, an Auckland junior, and David Smith, from Brisbane. The wild cards have been awarded to two prominent Canterbury players, Michael Mooney and Gary Lawson.

Mooney and Peter Hampton, controversial omissions from the recently-named Canterbury squad, are both in the field.

So, too, are some Australian juniors who have stayed on in Christchurch after the Canterbury age championships. Hibbert, twice Canterbury closed champion, reached

the final of the South island open in Nelson, losing to Stephen Guy (Wellington). Seeman won the Marlborough event by defeating Canterbury’s Hugh Robinson, who, however, is not competing at Wilding Park this week. On her way to beating Miss Parun in the national 18 years final, Miss Daly eliminated the talented Edith Tatana, aged 15, from Auckland, in a tough threeset match. As a consequence, Miss Tatana is ranked fourth; she was the runner-up to Miss

Parun at Nelson.

Ruth Seeman (Otago), who lost to Mrs Moorfield in the 1982 final, is seeded fifth and the six-times champion, Robyn Hunt, is in sixth position. In her December form, Mrs Hunt could trouble the bright young stars of teenage tennis. A third Canterbury champion of past years in the field is Judy Phillips, and she has been given one of the wild cards; the other goes to Julianne Taylor. After a disappointing entry in the women’s events last season, the figure has taken a heartening turn. There are 17 in the singles this year, and a strong field of 43 in the men’s singles.

Qualifying matches will be played today on the porous and plexipave surfaces at Wilding Park. Because of the grass problems, all the action will take place on the hard courts.