LAWN TENNIS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20642, 14 February 1929, Page 4

LAWN TENNIS.

By Smash. ; The B Grade competition was advanced -a further stage on'Saturday afternoon - when several interesting matches were ■ played. North-East Valley made a good showing against Moana, and though they lost by ; seven sets to nine, they actully won three ; more games than their opponents. The Moana men held a slight superiority,, but this was almost nullified by the success of the Valley ladies. By a coincidence the other North-East. Valley team also lost by seven sets to nine against Green Island. The ladies were fairly evenly matched, but the Green Island men were a shade the stronger. Hoslyn proved much too strong for Kaivtuna, winning 13 of the 16 sets played. The Winners were superior all round and the only loss suffered by the men was in the doubles -when Brabant and Brooks defeated M'Dougall and Sbnntag 9—7. In the ladies events Kaitnna secured two successes, but all the other events went to Boslyn.

.■■■ Cosy Dell gained a good victory over i St, Kilda by 10 sets to 6, after a very ! interesting match, in which some good play was witnessed. Deaker proved much too strong for Oliver, who collected only : one game, and Wingfiejd defeated Balk, ; but both Hunter and Ncsbit scored wins i for Cosy Dell. The men's doubles were ■also evenly divided. Three of th e ladles’ >. singles and both of the ladies’ doubles wont to Cosy Dell, and this gave them an j advantage that St. Kilda was not able jto recover. Other teams that won their matches • were St. Clair, Triangle, Caversham, Bal■iniacewen, and St, Andrew's No. 2. ■ The match between Canterbury and : Otago has been definitely fixed for'Saturday, February 23, and tire keen inter-.W i usually taken in this time-honoured fix- ■ ture will no doubt also be shown on the .present occasion., In view of the match ‘a number of leading players have been ■‘selected for practice, and Otago should • Ire able to place its strongest team in : the field, making it necessary for Canter.bury to send down a good team. The i fact that the games will be played on • asphalt will be in favour of Otago, and . onr players may be expected to give a ‘very good account of themselves. On its way south the Canterbury team will play , a match against representatives of the ; North Otago Association at Oaragru on I the afternoon of Thursday and the morning of Friday. Usually a match is ar- : ranged with South Canterbury on the ; occasion of tiffs trip, but Timaru wishes ;to play on a Saturday this year, and the .match will probably take place early in i March.

! A and B Grade ladies arc asked to ; note that on Thursday, February 28, start- • ing at 1.30, a ladies’ Yankee tournament ; will be played. Each lady will play three singles of 30 points (no handicaps, and section winners will play off). A small trophy will be given to the winner. An . entrance fee of 2s 6d will be charged, and . kails will be provided. Those entering ‘are requested to notify Mrs Evans before February 27. r lhe ladies on tlie provincial ladder are still very keen. Several challenges have been issued, ’Winners should notify Mrs Evans ns soon as possible of the result of matches. Mesdanies Mills and M‘Kellar challenged Mrs Laurcnson and Miss MTlutcheson and lost. 9—4.

Ihe strong Wellington team that challenged Canterbury for the possession of the Wilding Memorial Shield clearly demonstrated its superiority by winning 10 of the 12 matches. So decisive a defeat is rather a blow to the prestige of Canterbury, and it is evident that the loss of Ollivicr was severely felt and that his absence has loft a gap that Canterbury is unlikely to be able to fill for some years to come. The one bright spot in the match from the viewpoint of the losers was the notable'performance of Ivan Seay in defeating two‘such formidable plavers as D, G,-1 ranee and C. E. Malfroy, and on that form he is entitled to be ranked ,® s , I s o* 1 ? n the Canterbury provincial ladder. Speaking of Sears victories. the Christchurch Press says that in defeating Malfroy by the decisive margin of 7—5, 6—2, he left little doubt as to whom was the best player in the two teams. Following on his defeat of D. G. Prance in sequence sets, bcay thus scored botli of the holders’ two wins. ( He played a superb game, a«d with his graceful stroke equipment he was the outstanding , figure mv the courts. Seldom has Seay played with’ better judgment and shrewdness, and far from being the usual rash player, he was a cool and calculating genius, waiting and angling with infinite patience for the ball to bury with beautiful forehand shots or accurate and telling volleys, Malfroy was out-generalled by a brilliant player who was at the top of his game. Seay reputedly has a weak back-hand, but, nevertheless, so well‘does be cover it that few player’s are capable of deriving any great advantage from the fact. Malfroy certainly pasted it at times, but he could make little impression on the left-hander’s weaker wing. Malfroy drove, back-hand and fore-hand, splendidly, and his volleying, too, was ex-, cellent, but Seay’s ; destructive allied to superior tactics, carried him to victory.

Angas, Canterbury's No. 1 man, went down to both Don France and Malfroy, but he showed himself little inferior to either kis conquerors. France (says the Press) adopted the correct tactics to defeat Angas in a game which, although it produced much gopd tennis, and which contained much play of a brilliant order, was marred by many mistakes and inaccuracy on both sides. Realising that if Angas were allowed to retain undisputed possession of the net position he could not hope to score, France-kept up a hot attack of drives which Angas found very difficult to cope with at ‘ close quarters, and also found it difficult to score from' or to make openings from, at the back of the court. France, too, continually kept coming in to the net, where his forceful volleying and smashing scored many points. By keeping up a continuous attack himself, France prevented Angas ii om taking the initiative, and Angas was toiced to play a more or less defensive game, which is altogether foreign to his style and temperament. Ranking lists of the leading players in Aew Zealand pave been arranged as follows by Forehand,” of the Dominion:— Men—lt. L. Bartleet (Auckland), D. G nVelhngtonl, C. E. Malfroy (Wellington), A. L: France (Wellington), U Angus (Christchurch), J. T. LaurenV , aika t-- ) .;- N - G - l Sturt (Auckland), X. Rhodes Williams (Wellington), A. C. Stedman (Auckland), N. R, C. Wilson (Wellington) Ladies—Miss Marjorie i ne Miss M. Spiers (Christchurch),-Mrs W. J. Melody (WeiImgton) Miss M. Myers (Wangam.il,' Mrs R. P Adams (Wellington). Mis s M. Iracy (Wellington), Miss : M. . Wake (Christchurch). Miss D. Nicbolls (Wellington), Miss M. Andrew (Christchurch), Miss M. Gibson (Timarn). In the opinion of the lawn tennis writer of the Auckland Star, E. L. Bartleet. the holder of the Dominion and Auckland singles titles, is a much improved player, and ia now a much more likely winner of first-class championships, than he was a few seasons ago. He has mixed his game far more this season, and comes in to volley for a win more often, instead of relying on his forehand drive throughout a whole match. In the final of the Auckland championship against A. C. Stedman he gave an excellent exhibition of lawn tenuis, in nhich lie mixed his game claverly, never allowing the younger man to play confidently against him. This ia Bartleet s second win in the Auckland championship. The reinstatement of W. T, Tilden as an amateur by the American Lawn Tennis Association will ea.isej unfeigned satisfaction, wherever the game is played. From the first it has been deemed that the action of the American authorities was not only ill-timed, but ill-considered, and'this sense of injustice caused a strong feeling of Sympathy to be manifested in favour of the ex-champion, which has no doubt been a factor in (lie reversal of the disqualification decision. It is interestin'* to learn that Tilden and his old partner, F. T. Hunter, arc once, again to tour Europe during the coming season, and it may bo taken for granted that they will be assured of a warm welcome both in France and at Wimbledon. The statement that Tilden is not likely to be considered for selection as a member of this year’s Davis Cup team is rather curious. He is still the best player in the United States, and why he should be passed over is by no means clear. "

Mr M. van Staveren, of' Auckland, a representative of the firm of .Messrs Spaldings, Ltd., is a very keen follower of lawn temiis. Discussing players in New Zealand. Mr van Staveren, said that he considered Anyas to bo the finest doubles player in -New .Zealand and the coming champion. .“Lawn tennis is too harrowed down in New Zealand,.' said Mr van Staveren. “They should pick four

young players of the Angas-Malfroy type, train them, and send them abroad to learn ami bo beaten.” All the players in New Zealand wanted was experience. He felt sure that men who could afford it would be quite prepared to give financial assistance to the tours.

SPALDING Teunis Balls are plugless and seamless, and -ensure absolute accuracy of flight under all playing conditions. The SPALDING is the original stitchless Ball, automatically uniform in size, weight, bound, ami compression. Made in England.—Advt.