EMPIRE GAMES

Grey River Argus, 12 February 1938, Page 9

EMPIRE GAMES

N.Z. NOT PROMINENT In Yesterday’s Contests SWIMMING, ONE MILE EVENT. [Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] (Received February 11, 11.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, February 11. The mile swimming event resulted as follows:— Sievers (England) 1 Feary (Canada) 2 Wainwright (England) • 3 Won by about 15 yards. Time 19 min 46 seconds. WRESTLING. SYDNEY, February 11. Wrestling finals resulted as follows:— Welterweight. Trevaski (Australia) outpointed Stander (South' Africa), after a tight tussle, the wrestlers being on theif feet for the greater part of the bout Podjursky (New Zealand) was third in this division. Middleweight. Sheasby (South Africa), lost to Evans, on points. Evans brought his opponent to the mat with a body hold, and maintained his advantage to the end. Light-heavyweight. Scarf (Australia), defeated Greenspate (South Africa) by one fall, after a lively bout, with a double wristlock. Heavyweight. Knight (Australia) defeated Dryden (New Zealand) by one fall. Knight was more experienced than Dryden, but the New Zealander moved very smartly and did his share of attacking. The pair came out level, after six minutes, and each attacked in turn. With one and a-half seconds to go, Knight rolled Dryden over and pinned him, after the best bout of the evening. BOXING. SYDNEY, February 11. Finals in the boxing events resulted:— Flyweight. Joubert won this section. He gave a clever exhibition of two-handed fighting and good ringcraft. Bantamweight. Butler (England) defeated Knoesen (South Africa), on points, the decision receiving a very mixed reception. Featherweight. Watson (Scotland) lost to Henricus (Ceylon) on points. The victor was superior in height and reach, but the Scotsman fought gamely. Moran (New Zealand) was t hird in this section. j. Lightweight. Groves (England) gained a points decision over Hurst (Candda) in a hard-fought match. Welterweight. Smith (Australia) defeated Heeney (New Zealand), on points. Smith had an advantage in weight and reach, but Heeney forced the fighting, and scored in close with both hands to the body, boxing more impressively than in his first bout. Smith used the ring well, and scored with both hands in straight work. Heeney went after Smith in the last round, but Smith countered cleverly. After a willing mill, the decision went to Smith. Middleweight. Dennis (England) lost to Reardon (Wales), after a spirited bout. Lio ht-heavy weight. Wolmarama (South Africa) defeated Overell (Australia) after a bright bout, in which there was much hard hitting. Heavyweight. Osborne (Canada) defeated Sterley (South Africa). It was a poor display, with much wild swinging. RIFLE-SHOOTING. SYDNEY, February 11. For the rifle shooting, conditions were good. Hoddle still leads at. the end of the second stage of the King’s Prize, with a total of 201 pts. only four short of the possible. Three Australians follow, one point behind. In the Grace Bros, match of ten shots at 600 yards, Parkinson (N.Z.) who was fourth with a possible 50, won £3. Other New Zealand scores were: —Jeune 50, Bowes, Soler, and Nicholls 49, won £1 each. In the Dick Simmons match, ten shots at 600 and 700 yards, Jeune, 98 won £2. Other New Zealand scores wqre:—Nichols 97, Donald, Russell, Soler, Parkinson 96, James, Smith, Bowes 95, Nix 94, Oliver 93, won £1 each. CYCLING. SYDNEY, February 10. The preliminary heats of the 1000 metre sprint cycling events were run off to-day at Hanson Park. The New Zealanders, Ulmer and ’ Taylor, won their heats, and Giles ! had a walk-over. Thus the . three ' qualify for the quarter-finals on Saturday night.

Six Mile Race

MATTHEWS ACCLAIMED. “ANOTHER NURMI.” SYDNEY, February 11. The sectional times for the six miles footrace were as follows: Mile 4.46.5; two miles 9/55.4; three miles 1/11.4; four miles 20/17; five miles 2/27.6. The last mile took only 4/46.9. Ward tried to go on with Matthews, commencing the last . mile, but he soon fell back, beaten. It was learnt later that he struck the running board on the inside edge of the track, with his left foot, and last night his ankle was badly swollen. The manager of the Canadian

team, Mr Robinson, described Matthews as “anther Nurmi.”

The “Herald” says: The six miles was a sensational race, in which Matthews repeated his triumph in the three mile event, and Coleman, winner of the Marathon, was disqualified. Jostling and hard tactics during the first half of the race marred the event as a sporting spectacle, but Matthews’ lovely, even action and grand performance made the spectators forget the earlier unpleasant incidents. Matthews, indeed, seems of the Nurmi school—one of those indomitable men who know not the ravages of human strain or the difficulties of distance. Against a man of such mould, no other competitor had a chance. Matthews thoroughly earned the title of the British Empire’s champion of stamina. The “Daily Telegraph” says Matthews yesterday ran his first six miles track race, and probably his last. The “Telegraph” quotes Matthews as saying: “It is a silly distance. I don’t mean that it is an exhausting race; in fact, it is much easier than two or three miles. It is the monotony that gets you—just running round and round a little track, with nothing to see but a long line of faces on the fence. At times, yesterday, I got so bored that I began to wish someone would scoot out and set up a big lead, just to make it a little more interesting. Over the last mile, it was not so bad. I was putting all I knew into it then, and seeing how many of the stragglers I could lap. The cheers of the crowd helped a lot, at this stage.” The referee, Mr Langford, said that he had not investigated any suggestion of elbowing by Coleman. Stanford (Trinidad), who dropped out of the race after one and a-half miles, alleged that he was so badly elbowed by Coleman that it was impossible for him to continue. It is understood that the manager of the Trinidad team has lodged a protest in writing, against certain incidents in the race.

N.Z. CONGRATULATIONS. WELLINGTON, February 11. On behalf of his colleagues and himself, Mr Savage has conveyed the warmest congratulations to Matthews on his magnificent performance in the six miles race. THE POINTS SCORED. AUSTRALIA WELL AHEAD. SYDNEY, February 10. The unofficial table of points for all Empire Games events is as follows: — Australia Canada England South Africa New Zealand Scotland Wales has gained points for athletics, boxing, and swimming, British Guinana for swimming, Ceylon tor athletics and boxing, Rhodesia for bowls and boxing, Northern Ireland for bowls and Fiji for bowls. New Zealand, which scored m °st points in bowls, is fourth on the athletic and wrestling tables, but scored very few points in swimming, boxing and cycling. N.Z. SURFERS ARRIVE. (Received February 11, 10.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, February" 11. The New Zealand team of ten ,surfers who are to compete in the special carnival here from February 19 to 26, arrived by the Awatea today They were welcomed by the officials of the Surf Life Saving Association. TEAMS’ DEPARTURE FOR HOME. SYDNEY, February 11The Empire Games teams will sail for home next week. The Britain, Cevlon, and India teams go by tne Stratheden next Friday. The same day the Rhodesian team will sail by the Themistocles. The New Zealand team will also leave on Friday next by the Awatea. The teams of Canada, Bermuda, and British Guiana sail by the Niagara next Thursday. CANADIANS TO COMPETE AT AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, February 10. Mr H. Jenner Wily, secretary to the Auckland Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association, has received a letter from Mr. R. M. Robinson manager of the Canadian team which is competing at the BritistkEmpire Games in Sydney, agreeing to the appearance of the whole of his team at a meeting to be held at Carlaw Park on the evening of February 21. The Auckland provincial championships will be decided on Saturday week, and the results of these events will enable the selectors to choose a team to offer strong opposition to the visitors on the next Monday, mors especially as they will be able to call on the services of the Auckland section of the team which is representing New Zealand at the Empire Games. another title to new ZEALAND. And another record accurately timed by OMEGA watches, the only official Timers of the Empire Games. OMEGA skilled craftsmanship is readily available to you in models for everyday use. ONE OF THE THREE GREAT WATCHES OF THE WORLD.— * VICTORY FOR BOOT’S. And OMEGA watches officially recorded his time. Time is no less important in every day life than it is in sport. OMEGA watches may be bought for as little as £2/17/6. ONE OF THE THREE GREAT WATCHES OF THE WORLD.—*