Tennis triumph

Press, 9 March 1984, Page 8

Tennis triumph

A favourable draw, but more especially a stoic determination in all the team members, enabled the Canterbury women’s tennis team to win the Nunnerly Casket at the national interdistrict championships in Hutt Valley last week-end. Canterbury started the tournament as the third seed behind Wellington and Auckland, but it humbled the opposition and lost just three of the 30 matches it played. It finished with 42 points, seven ahead of the runners-up Wellington. Pat Leopold, the manager, said the draw was kind to Canterbury. Its first two encounters were against Southern and Central. She felt those two matches allowed ' the Canterbury women time to find their rhythm, so that they were well prepared when they met Auckland in the third match and Wellington in the fourth.

Against Southern in the first match Canterbury had a comfortable 5-1 win. The only player to lose was Sally Moorfield, the Canterbury No. 1. She was beaten in two sets by Ruth Seeman (Otago) and bad the misfortune to strike the Otago woman in aggressive foj;m that was difficult to counter.

Only one other set was dropped against Southern, that in a doubles match.

Canterbury had a clean sweep against Central in its next match, the first of three it was to have at the tournament. Moorfield had to fight hard to overcome Leanne Karatau in three sets, losing the second in a tie-breaker. All the other matches were won with little fuss, the two doubles combinations — Moorfield and Liz Daly and Robyn Hunt and Judy Phillips — dropping one game between them.

While Canterbury was playing Central its hopes of success were raised when they realised that Auckland was struggling against Southern. The winner of the New Zealand singles championship in January, Linda Stewart (Auckland) was beaten by Seeman. That result boosted the confidence of the Canterbury girls for their clash with Auckland in the next round. What transpired against Auckland was unexpected.

Canterbury swept through the singles and doubles without dropping a set and Moorfield beat a dispirited Stewart 6-2. 6-3. The result was sweet revenge for Canterbury. Last year it beat Auckland, but on accumulative points lost the Casket to its old rival. Canterbury’s crucial match was against Wellington last Saturday, and it developed into a marathon seven and a half hour struggle. The first matches started at 10.30 a.m. and the last doubles matches ended at 6 p.m. Daly did not allow her opponent into the match at any stage and won both sets to love. Mrs Leopold guessed that the hapless Wellington woman, Chris Beazley, won about five points in the set. A second victory for Canterbury looked likely when Phillips glided through the first set 6-1. She conceded the second 4-6 and looked ready to win when she led 5-2 in the third, but suecummbed to a gallant Lesley Firkins, 5-7. Moorfield raised Canterbury’s hopes by winning the first set 6-2 against the talented Michelle Parun, but the Wellington lass settled and dropped just one game in the next two sets.

Lyn Meachem beat Hunt 6-2 in the first set between the No. 2’s and with Hunt down, 3-5, in the second Canterbury’s hopes sank. But the experience of Hunt enabled her to win the next four games, and the set. She was especially purposeful in the third set which she won 6-3.

The doubles became all important. The Canterbury pairings by this stage were playing particularly well. Hunt and Phillips won in two sets, but Moorfield and Daly had to go to three. Their clash with Parun and Beazley produced some first rate rallies.

Canterbury’s purpose in the final match against Northern was to win four games and thus earn the three bonus points for an over-all win. The default of the Northern No. 2 to Hunt was a start, if not an ideal one. The rest of the team responded to the challenge, and Canterbury completed its third 6-0 clean sweep.