TENNIS NOTES

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 69, 14 December 1933, Page 7

TENNIS NOTES

First Division Matches LOCAL RANKING LIST Miss Whyte beats Miss Howe

(By

“Vantage.”)

Wellington A are the present leaders in the men’s first division of the Wellington Lawn Tennis Association’s inter-club competitions. They have played three rounds for three wins, the last being an easy one over* their own B team. There are, however, three other teams in the division, which have not yet had a loss. They are University A, Brougham Hill A and Thorndon, and each have played two rounds. The chief interest in the division will not be created until these teams are drawn against each other. Only one of Saturday’s ’-itches in this division was at all well contested. That was the University B v. Seatoun encounter, won by Seatou.n by five matches to three. N. A. Morrison, Seatoun's second player, had a good day. - He won his singles against McCarthy and with C. W. Morrison scored a win in both doubles. 1 The other matches were very one-sided. Wellington A scored an expected B—o victory over Wellington B and University A lost only one match to Brougham Hill B. That was Richards and GiffordMoore’s win against Gosnell and Sykes. Brougham 1 Hill A defaulted one doubles match to Newtown and lost a singles when Lezard beat Livingstone after < a very even go. The women’s first . division matches were equally one-sided. Thorndon lost only one match against Wellington B and that by default,. Against Newtown Brougham Hill won the six , matches played very easily and defaulted two of the singles. The only match Lyall Bay could take from Wellington .A was the doubles won by Mrs. Latta and Miss Williams against Misses Bennett and Stubbs. Brougham Hill are leading in this division .with three wins and no losses and look likely to retain the lead. Newton and Thorndon. with one loss each, are next in order. In the fourth A division Miramar A is the only team with no loss recorded against it. There are two in the fourth B division with no losses over the three rdunds played, Rintoul Street and Miramar B. Another team,' Hataitai. has played two rounds‘only and won them both. In the fifth division Rkwhiti, Broadway and Technical have yet to be beaten. Technical, however, has played one round less than the others. Ranking Matches.

Of the matches played recently for places on the Wellington ranking list, the most interesting was Miss M. Whyte’s rather unexpected defeat of Miss D. Howe. The score was 6—l, 6—4. This win places Miss Whyte third on the list, with Miss Howe fourth and Mrs. D. G. France fifth. As, however, Mrs. France is, not available for Nunneley Casket matches, her placing on the list is not of particular importance. Among the men there is good competition for places in the Wilding Shield team. R. McL. Ferkins seems assured of being included, and there are ,E. A. Roussell, N. Smith, R. Howe, and N. F. N. Bedford to be considered. A lot will depend on the matches to be played by Smith this week-end. ,

Coining Tournaments. There are quite a number of Christmas and-New Year tournaments round about the Wellington district.; .The Hawera club begins a three-day meeting on December 28. There are nine championship events altogether; the usual five for adults, a boys’ and, a girls’ singlee. for competitors under 18, and two primary school events. These last two will be run off next Saturday, and entries for them close to-day. The men’s singles in the handicap events has been divided into two- grades. Entries ' close next Tuesday, December 19, with the secretary. Box 45, Hawera. A few late entries will be. accepted. The Hastings club will begin its 29th annual championship and handicap tournament on December 26. The events include two junior championships, with an age limit of 21 years, and also two plate events for competitors knocked out of the .first or second round of men’s or women’s championship singles. Entries close with the secretary at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 20.

The Wanganui Association will hold its chanrpionshib and handicap tournament on January 1,2, 3 and 4, at the Wanganui club’s 1 courts. There are the usual ten events and, if necessary, the men’s and women’s handicap singles will be divided into two grades. Entries close on Friday, December 22. The programme has now been issued for the Wellington Association’s tournament to be held at Miramar on January 18, 19, 20 and 22. There will be 34 grass courts available. There are 17 events all told and the championships have been divided into two grades. Second grade events will not be open to players of senior status who are considered to- be all those competing in the first and second divisions of the inter-club matches. A rebate of 4/- will be allowed any competitor entering for, six or more events. Entries must reach the secretary by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 16.

A Novel Incident. It is one thins to break a string, but when one smashes the whole lot at one fell swoop and the ball remains caught in the tangled strings, it is beyond a joke. It happened the other day in the Eastern .Suburbs, Sydney, and is still the subject of much food for thought amongst umpires. Anyway, Eric Trevail will never forget the novel incident. He was playing in the B grade mixed doubles match between Hastings and Villers Bret, and the damp court soon upset the strokes of the players. • Matters did not improve when the rain came down, but they are made of hardy stuff in the Eastern Suburbs. and the match continued. Soon strings were snapping, and it was not long before every racquet on the court was affected. Trevail was playing finely, despite his broken strings. An opportunity came for a smash, and as ball and racquet met a - dull thud replaced the usual musical ping. No ball flew over the net. but Trevail s astonished eyes spied it caught in the smashed strings of his racquet. At was a moment for a quick brain, and Trevail certainly adopted a rapid hne of action. He dashed up to the net and shook the ball out, • J*, wa £ the nm P ire ’ 3 turn to be astonished. Perhaps the ingenuity of Trevail helped his decision, for he gave the point to Trevail, much against the will of the . others.on the court. Critics rule that he lost the point, for, x after all. tennis is tennis, and not lacrosse. Probably, however, a let was the correct decision. In file Manawatu.

In order to give the Manawatu Lawn Tennis Association's selector an indies-, tion of the merits of the players, the annual men’s and women’s matches between teams representing the Palmerston North Lawn Tennis Club and the remaining clubs in the association’s district have been held.

The men’s match was played • last Saturday and resulted in the Rest eecuring its first victory since the inauguration of the matches. The women’s match was a closely fought one, Palmerston North winning on the games, and Rest by a margin of one set. In the men’s match, the star match was between Hanking and Long, the former winning 6-1, 6-8, 6-4. Hankin took the first set with ease, but in ,the next Long played a more forceful game. In the deciding match Long, had a lead of 3-0, but Hankiii recovered his game and. winning five games in succession, won the set. ■' ■■ :