TABLE TENNIS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23542, 4 July 1938, Page 13

TABLE TENNIS

OTAGO BEATS SOUTHLAND AM OUTRIGHT VICTORY The table tennis matches played on Saturday night in the Y.M.C.A. between teams representing Otago and Southland resulted in wins for Otago in both the men’s and women’s matches. The score of 61—ll in the men’s match was not a true indication of the night’s play—Southland should have taken many more games, but their players seemed to lack the final* thrust which makes the difference between defeat and victory. The standard of play in the southern province has,_ however, improved considerably since a similar match between the provinces in June last year. This improvement is particularly noticeable in the younger players, all of whom have concentrated on the more attractive and incidentally more effective “ tennis style. The Otago players, although without the services of the Otago champion, R. Algie, gave a good account of themselves. The outstanding player of the evening was the 15-year-old M. Friend. Winning every game he played, this forceful player gave his best exhibition to date. G. Laidlaw, the South Island champion, has had a speedy return to form lately, and on Saturday night demonstrated his ability in no uncertain manner. His only defeat was in the first game, in which he found difficulty in adapting himself to the play of his opponent. The remaining Otago players —Brown, Miller, Ramsay and A. Algie, although losing only about two games each out of the possible 12, were not up to their usual standard. This was perhaps more true of Algie than of Ramsay, but in spite of this their play was much ahead of that of the Southland players. The Southland players—S. Robson, J. Loudon, F. Smith, J. Ferguson, A. Harris, B. Hollander and T. Breayley—all managed to win at least one game. Loudon and Breayley, however, wer.e the outstanding members of the team, and gained four and two games respectively. The younger players of the Southland team —Breayley, Hollander and

Ferguson—were attractive to watch, although they did not win many games. In the women’s section the score stood at 36—18 in favour of Otago when the match had to be abandoned through lack of time. For Southland, Mrs Croad and Mrs Robson were the most effective players. The Otago ladies’ champion, Miss M. Bennett, making her first public appearance this season, illustrated her experience at the game and won six games for her team. Mrs O’Driscoll, also with six victories, played a solid defensive game. The Fogarty sisters, Miss Lock and Miss Smyth also performed creditably for Otago.