LAWN TENNIS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 60, 12 March 1927, Page 22

LAWN TENNIS

"•» Mima"

EASTER CHAMPIONSHIPS

COUNCIL MEETING

NORTH ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

AT MKAMAR

The quarterly meeting of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association was held last week, and, although there was a fair attendance of delegates, yet there were more delegates absent than present. Why some associations elect delegates who do not attend meetings has been a puzzle for a long time, and it would be in the interests of the sport generally if more active representatives were found by some of the associations. A very spirited discussion took place on several matters during the evening, and even the chairman was , carried away to such an extent that at one time he was spiritedly fighting in the interests of the association he is president of, but the delegates did not object, as they knew their chairman,- and they also knew that he was placed in a very awkward position. Mr: S. E. Gawith was in the chair, and after the report had been taken as read, the fun started. Arising out of the report an Otago delegate wanted to know how it was that the New South Wales team played at Timaru and other places after the tour had been ended at Christchureh. He hit hard in asking if the Management Committee really managed the tour, or did the Sydney team run the committee. The Hawkes Bay and West Coast delegates also wanted to know why their associations did not get matches with the. visitors, and questions were also asked about "strings being pulled" to get matches with "Captain" Peach and his merry men. Underlying all the criticism it could be plainly seen that the speakers were giving the management every opportunity to let the associations and the New Zealand followers of tennis know that it was not the Management Committee's fault that the unauthorised matches were played. It was generally admitted that the visitors were great sports, but that they soon became tired, and longed for a pleasure jaunt rather than be tied down to play official matches. The chairman of the Management Committee, who was to the point in many of his remarks, satisfied the delegates that the committee did run the tour, and that visiting teams in the future would not be allowed to arrange any such matches as did the recent New South Wales team. Tired as the Sydney players were after their defeats in the New Zealand championships and the Test match, the captain has been reported to have said that after the above-mentioned events his players met and defeated all the best New Zealand players. The best that can be said of that reported interview is that New Zealanders really hope that Peach has been ■ misunderstood and badly reported by the Sydney "Referee."

Tournament dates were thoroughly volleyed, driven,- and smashed by most of the delegates at the meeting, and one of the Wairarapa representatives, whilst hoping that the Wellington Association would forego 22nd January in the future rather broke up what might have been a friendly discussion between the two associations in the future, by referring to the Wellington championship meeting as a "debacle." Why the Wairarapa Association should expect the Wellington Association to do without a tournament on the Wellington Anniversary dates, so that the best Wellington players could attend the tournament at Masterton has never been made clear to Wellingtonians. It was quite clear that a few delegates desired that certain tournament dates should belong to their association, and no one else, also that if anyone else applied for such dates that the New Zealand Council should bo empowered to say "hands off those dates, such and such association claims them for all time." But delegates were mostly alive to all the facts, and are awaro that thero aro now so many players anxious to compete in tournaments that it is not in tho best interests of tho sport to hand over any ono particular lot of dates for the exclusive right and use of any ono association or club. A motion was passed that associations applying for tournament dates must send in their applications by 10th September to the New Zealand Association, and the latter body then forwards to all associations a copy of the applications, but does not authorise any of the dates before 10th October. That will permit associations to confer with one another, and endeavour, in the event of dates clashing, to come to some arrangement. Club applications for tournament dates must reach the New Zealand Association two months before tho proposed date of the tournament applied for. These dates have also to be forwarded to all associations, and club dates are not to be allotted until one month after date of application. The motion as ..passed gives associations all the necessary information they requiro about tournament dates, but whether it will be the means of preventing any clashing remains to be seen.

The Manawatu Association, which had been given conditional affiliation by the Management Committee, was proposed, seconded, and elected to the New, Zealand Association. The Wanganui Association agreed to its boundaries being so altered that the Bulls Clubs could enrol with the newly formed Mauawatu Association. The Wellington Association has now lost the services of E. D. Andrews, the New Zealand champion, as he belongs to a Palmerston North Club, which now belongs to the Manawatu Association. North Island Championships. The 1927 North Island championslap and handicap tournament will be held on the Wellington Association's courts at Miraniar on loth, 16th, 18th, and 19th April. Sixteen courts will be available for play. Entries close with the secretary of the association, G P O Box 1287, Wellington, on Thursday, 7th April, at noon, and intending competitors are advised that entry fees must accompany entry forms, otherwise they will not be accepted. The usual five championship and handicap events are on the programme, besides championship singles and doubles for boys and girls under 18 years of age, as' on 15th April, 1927. The men's singles and doubles are to be the best of three advantage sets, but the finals of both arc to be the best of five advantage sets. The ladies' events and the mixed doubles are to be the best of three advantage sets, and in the juniors' events the best of three sets, the third set only advantage, will be played. Play will commence at 9 a.m. each day, and there will be no adjournment for lunch. To facilitate the organisation and control of the tournament, players entering for both championship and handicap doubles are asked to enter with the same partner. The committee reserves the right to divide the men's and ladies' handicap

singles into two grades (A and B), and also to call upon players to umpire The juniors are being well catered for in the boys' and girls' events, and it is to be hoped that the committee will make a special appeal to all the public schools, so that the tennis-playing children there will be given an opportunity of entering, for it must be remembered that these events are open to public school children as well as to those of the colleges. Good entries should be forthcoming for all events, and the champion players will be most anxious to become North Island champions. This being the first time that the North Island championships have been competed for, extra interest is being taken in the meeting, and many champions from other parts of the North Island are expected to compete, and the local champions will have to be in the best form to secure the .honours for Wellington. Mr. J. C. Peacock ia the president, and the referee is Mr. J. A. B. Howe. There is a good management committee of nine to back up the secretary, Mr. Cobby, in his work as manager of the tournament. Maori Championships. The Maori slogan" for the second annual Maori championship meeting will be "Haere Mai" to all those eligible to compete, and there is bound to be a great gathering of the tribes from all over the Dominion competing or watching the progress of their respective representatives in the various events that are to be held on the Wanganui East Club's grounds at Wanganui on 16th, 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st April. Entries must reach the secretary, Box 102, Wanganui, on or before Thursday, 31st March. As a souvenir programme is being printed of the draw for the various events, the closing date for all entries will be strictly adhered to, so as to ensure the printing being completed in ample time for circulation of copies before the commencement of the tournament. All events are open only to members of the Maori race or their descendants. In addition to the usual fiye championship events the following extra events are on the programme: —Boys' junior Maori championship of New Zealand, girls' junior Maori championship of New Zealand, men's West Coast Plate (for players defeated in first or second rounds of the men's championship singles), ladies' West Coast Plate (conditions similar to men's), Marumaru Cup (for Maori Council .district teams, comprising two ladies and two men players, the winners to hold the Marumaru Cup for one year, the present holder o£ which is Whanganui), Morehu Turoa Cup (for Maori Council district teams, competed for under Davis Cup rules, present holders Whanganui). In the men's championship singles the winner will receive a trophy, and will hold for one year the Challenge Cup presented by F. H. Ayres, Ltd., London. The champion lady will receive Mr. John Coull's trophy, and will also hold for one year the historic Hinerapa Challenge Cup. The runner-up will receive Mr. A. L. Sarney's trophy. In the men's doubles the winners will receive Mr. T. E. Thomas's trophy, and will hold for one year the Tai-Hauauru trophy, presented by Mr. Toroa Ngatau. The winner of the ladies' doubles will receive Mr. M. K. Takarangi's trophy, and will hold for one year the Tai-Bawhiti trophy. The winners of the mixed doubles will receive the trophy presented by Mason, Struthers, Ltd., and will hold for one year the Arawa trophy. Miss Decima Williams has presented trophies for the winner and . runner-up of the girls' championship singles. The Marumaru Cup conditions are as follows:—Play shall be between teams consisting of two ladies and two men from any Maori Council district, and entries for the competition, as well as for the Morehu Turoa Cup, will be limited to one team for each event from each Maori Council district. This has b.een rendered necessary on account of the zoning system not yet being in operation. The Marumaru Cup is a challenge trophy, and the holders thereof must be challenged. A player residing in a district other than the council j district to which he or she tribally belongs may represent the latter district, subject to the consent of the subassociation in whose district he or she resides. The Morehu Turoa Cup is a challenge trophy for men, and the holders must be challenged. Play shall be between teams of not more than four men from any Maori Council district, but the games to be played shall be four singles and one double, under the same conditions as the Davis Cup competitions. The Hinerapa Cup is a challenge trophy for ladies. The holder of the cup may or may not participate in the ladies' single championship. In the former event, if she is defeated at any stage of the competition she shall lose her right to defend the trophy. In the latter event, if the holder elects to defend, she will play the winner of the championship singles for the title of lady champion and the trophy. Competitors are requested to wear the colours of their association or club, which is an excellent condition, and one which many of the pakeha associations and clubs have al' lowed to die out. Many of our players do not even know what their club or association's colours are. The patron of the Maori Association is Mr. Hoerba Utiku Marumaru, and the president is Mr. Tupere Hone Te Anga, who is also the referee. Mr. P. H. Jones is secretary and treasurer. Visiting players will bo accommodated at the Temi ClUb Pa, Arohanui, Putiki, but those desiring to make their own accommodation arrangements are advised to book early. The Management Committee is composed of hard workers, who, with the officers of the association, are determined to make the meeting a success. Wilding Memorial Shield. The Anthony Wilding Memorial Shield, recently won by a representative Wellington team in a challenge match against Canterbury, which province was the holder, was first competed for in 1921. The New Zealand Lawn i Tennis Association presented the shield to the Canterbury Association so that the first competition would be held in the home city of the parents of the late Anthony Wilding. The tennis players throughout New Zealand by subscription, which was limited to one shilling each, obtained and presented the shield to the New Zealand Association for competition between its affiliated associations, in memory of the late Anthony Wilding, recognised as one of the world 'a greatest players. The New Zealander, with Norman Brookes, won the Davis Cup final in August, 1914, defeating the United States team composed of Williams, M'Laughlin, and Bundy, and shortly afterwards Wilding was killed at the Great War.