Strong field for tennis

Press, 9 November 1984, Page 44

Strong field for tennis

Rarely has a home-based tennis tournament at Wilding Park attracted a field of the quality of the men’s singles at the Smiths City Market Canterbury closed championships, to be held from today until Sunday. The entries have been of such sublime standard that the men’s singles titleholder, Hugh Robinson, has failed to command a place in the seedings. Neither has Graeme Liddell, the powerful left-hander just back from Germany. Instead, it is another talented player recently re-

turned from the Stuttgart area, Stephen Harley, who has been given pride of place. A former Canterbury open singles champion, Harley has been ranked first ahead of Phillip Seeman, Brett Hibbert, and Michael Mooney. Seeman, the key man in Fendalton’s B.N.Z. Trophy success last summer, and Hibbert, a former Canterbury closed champion, are both eligible for Otago. But they qualify for the Smiths City Market event because Seeman attends the University of Canterbury, and Hibbert’s home

is in Christchurch. Other players of note in the men’s field are Vernon Aubrey, Geoff Smith and Alistair Chapman, all Wilding Shield representatives. Peter Hampton, another former Canterbury champion, will not contest the singles, but will join forces with Marty Searle to defend the doubles title. The other seedings are, in order, Harley and Simon Jamieson, Mooney and Smith, and Seeman and Chapman. The absence of Robyn Hunt and Shirley Haig will rob the women’s singles of

some of its interest, but two of last season’s Nunneley Casket winners, Sally Moorfield and Judy Phillips, will bring a touch of class to the field. They have been given the top two seedings, ahead of Rachel Wilson, the Canterbury reserve last summer, and Andrea Barlow. In the doubles the seedings, in order, will be Moorfield and Julianne Taylor, Phillips and Leigh Johnson, Wilson and Barlow, Vicki and Lani Ratana. The championships will cater for five grades of men and two of women.