GENERAL SPORTS NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20842, 8 April 1931, Page 13

GENERAL SPORTS NEWS.

C. G. PORTER GOING HOME. ATTACK ON SWIMMING RECORD. VISITING TENNIS PLAYERS. The Auckland Rugby Union has been granted the use of the Avondale Racing Club's grounds for tho coming season. Jack Sharkey has offeied Max Schmeling, heavy-weight boxing champion of the world, the sum of £OO,OOO fiat for a return match for the title. Tho Wellington Boxing Association has arranged a match between Harry Johns, of Auckland and Whitlow, the American importation, for Tuesday next. The Glendowie Golf Club will open its season on Saturday next with mixed foursome matches. Members will be the guests of the president, Mr. A. G. Graliarn, at afternoon tea. King Elliot, the former Auckland policeman, is returning to New Zealand and will be competing in matches with the other professional wrestlers. He is reported to have lost but one match since he left.

Tho Davis Cup contest will shortly be animating the lawn tennis world in four continents, Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. Australia, for the time being, has withdrawn through deficiency in playing strength.

W. Turner, the single sculls champion of New Zealand, and a Tauranga and Bay of Plenty Rugby representative, is leaving Tauranga to enter into business in Njipier. He will be greatly missed in rowing, football and lawn tennis circles.

C. o. Porter, well known captain of All Black teams, lias been spending a few clays in Auckland. lie left for Wellington last evening and will sail by the Tainui to-morrow for England and the Continent on a business trip. He originally intended to travel on the Aorangi and go Home via Canada, but changed his plans at the last moment.

G. L. Patterson, the famous Australian Davis Cup star, was a spectator at the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association s hard-court championships on Monday. He is on his way to England and will take part in whatever doubles events ho can fit in en route and at Home, but does not intend to participate in singles.

As in cricket and swimming, youth in lawn tennis is making its presence felt the world over, nowhere more so than in the United States. There they expect France to be overthrown within a couple of years by the younger and more virile Americans, to match whom France does not appear to have many in the offing.

The amount of money that is spent on swimming in Paris may be gauged by the fact that the management of a swimming bath brought Johnny Weissmuller, former Olympic champion and present holder of several world's records, from the "United States to Paris last year and paid him a fee of £4OO for an engagement of one month.

England's great half-mile runner, T. C. Hampson, met with rather a bad accident recently, while running with a harrier pack. When jumping a ditch he slipped and was taken to hospital with a strained back. After his performances at the English championships and the Empire Games he was considered almost a certainty for the 800 metres at the next Olympic Games.

An official attempt to improve on his recently-established New Zealand 100 metres free-style record will be made t>y G. Bridson, at the North Shore Swimming Club's carnival at the Tepid Baths next Tuesday evening. At the club's last carnival, a month ago, Bridson reduced A. Adamson's previous record of 1m 4 2-5s by 2-ss, but he believes he can register a faster time.

A good story is told of Walter Lindrum, the world's champion billiard player. He was accosted once by the inevitable billiard "shark" in a local saloon, who, ignorant of Lindrum's identity, challenged him to a game, offering a start of 50 in a hundred. Lindrum accepted, screwed in off the red, and went out in one stick. Riled, the local demanded another game with the start reduced to 30. Same result. Then the astonished "shark" said: "You're not a bad player! What about you giving me a start?" "Sorry," said the courteous Lindrum, "but I've never seen you play!"

The Auckland Lawn Tennis Association is likelv to sertire a match against D. P. Turnbull and D. Thomson, two promising young Australian players who will pass through Auckland on Monday week on their way home from the Hawaiian championships. Turnbull holds the South Australian singles and doubles championships. Thomson is junior singles champion of Australia and last year, partnered by J. Willard, was runner-up in the New South Wales doubles championship. The players are considered to be about equal in skill to the players who comprised the last Australian team that visited here.