RECORD ENTRIES RECEIVED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27499, 20 September 1950, Page 4

RECORD ENTRIES RECEIVED

Sports Commentary

Dunedin Bowling Centre’s Fours Competition <* By the Sports Editor

A record entry of 330 fours has been received for the Dunedin Bowling Centre’s Saturday inter-club competition which will begin on November 4. This means that more than 1400 players will be taking part in the game every Saturday. There will be a newcomer in the competitions in the shape of the newly formed Forbury Park Bowling Club, which will take part in Saturday and Wednesday inter-club matches. The Karitane Club has applied for affiliation but is precluded by distance from taking part in the competitions. Twelve rounds will be played in the Saturday competition.

Nineteen entries, the same number as last year, have been received for the Holmes Feathers four-rink competition, for teams of four fours from each club. This competition will again be played in two sections and will consist of nine rounds, played each Monday evening and commencing on November 13.

The earliest notification of a club opening so far received is that of Kaituna on October 7. The Mornington Club will probably open on the same day. The majority of clubs have set down their opening fixtures for Saturday, October 14, and the remainder for the following week. The greens show promise of being as good as ever, and it is generally recognised that the average standard of the Dunedin greens is higher than that in any other centre in New Zealand.

The New Zealand tournament will be held in Wellington, commencing on February 5 in order to avoid the racing season and yearling sales, which are held in January in Wellington. This naturally will somewhat restrict the entry, especially from such tournament players as school teachers, and it is not likely there will be a large entry from the Dunedin Centre on this occasion.

The most popular event for the South Island will be the special centennial tournament at Christchurch, commencing during the second week in January. The Dunedin Centre will hold its usual Christmas Pairs and Easter tournament, and the leads and seconds’ tournament is set down for decision in March.

The inter-provincial match with Canterbury for the Redpath Shield will be played at Christchurch on March 8 or 15, and this season Southland will play at Dunedin for the Harraway Shield on Saturday, March 3. The North Otago match will be played at Oamaru on February 24. Temuka-Timaru Road Race The annual Temuka to Timaru harrier road race was held last Saturday, but with the Around-the-Penin-sula Relay being held the same day, Dunedin representation in the race at Timaru was very limited. An outstanding performance was put up by the British Empire Games representative, C. Lousich, who was a member of the winning Lynndale (Auckland) team in the Akaroa Relay Race the week before. Scratch man for the race was J. R. Clarke (Chrstchurch), who, however, did not face the starter. Lousich, on the 35sec mark, was in fine fettle and there is no doubt that if Clarke had started he would have needed a bicycle to get near the Aucklander. Running very smoothly and strongly throughout, Lousich easily gained fastest time honours in the splendid time of 57min 30 4-ssec, which only G. L. Austin, the race record holder, has bettered. The first two Dunedin athletes to finish were J. Raynor (St. Kilda) in eleventh place, and his team-mate, J. Jacobsen, thirteenth. His Greatest Thrill “It gave me a thrill to be selected for the All Blacks, to be a member of a team winning a test match, but 1 have never had so great a thrill as when we won the Ranfurly Shield on Saturday,” said the former All Black, M. P. Goddard, at the reception to the South Canterbury team at Timaru on Sunday. Racing Shell Acquired The best four which the Queen’s Drive Rowing Club purchased from the Ayon Club (Christchurch) bears the name “ Norton,” a name that needs no introduction to the older generation of oarsmen. At the beginning of the present century Norton, a capable boat builder, produced some fine and fast racing craft, evidence of which can be still found- in the racks bove the Drive Club’s new acquisition, in the form of a double sculler built by the same man nearly 50 years ago. Until a few years ago this craft was the envy of more than one club, for she brought laurels to the Drive and many oarsmen who subsequently represented Otago and New Zealand. Her days are not finished yet as the club still uses her as a practice craft. North Otago Hockey Tournament

Settlers Show Finer Points Of Soccer The large crowd at the Caledonian Ground for the Soccer match between Otago and the Settlers on Saturday must have left the ground fully satisfied that they had seen a game different in many respects from an ordinary club fixture. There was a considerable following of settler supporters of both sexes, and, judged on club form, the standard of play was much higher than most expected from the better known members of the Settlers’ team. In the same way as the Petone Settlers’ side demonstrated in 1949, the local Settlers play much better among themselves than when an odd one or two are scattered among the various clubs, comments the Daily Times Soccer writer. This was proved beyond all doubt as the game progressed, and their understanding and combination were equal to that of any club team in spite of the fact that this was the first time they had played as a team. The pattern of their play was to draw an opponent, find a team-mate and keep the play and the ball swinging, the accuracy of these tactics making an ordinary team of players superior to the Otago selection. For local players there was much to be learned in some of the finer points. The Otago players waited while their opponents jumped, nodded the ball forward or back, gathered it in again and passed before being tackled. The cross pass, the back pass, the pass into the open, and the many fine placements off the side of the head to the feet of a colleague were there in abundance, and it is in such points that many good local players are lacking. Another important point lay in their avoidance of being tackled by placing themselves between an opponent and the ball, going to the ball and then passing. A return game between the Settlers and a stronger Otago side would be welcomed and would prove a much bigger attraction. Roslyn-Wakari’s Effort

The Roslyn-Wakari Association Football Club is deserving of praise for the efforts it is making to improve its ground and pavilion amenities at its home area, Ellis Park. There have been many good musters of club players and supporters in what has been a most co-operative club scheme. Empire Games In Canada

A six-a-side women’s hockey tournament was held in Oamaru last Saturday. Teams from Dunedin, from Central Otago and from outlying districts of North Otago travelled long distances to provide some very keen competition. Naseby won the senior division with Taieri runners-up. The winners gave a very good exhibition of six-a-side hockey and were superior in stick work and tactics to all other teams. This team also adapted itself to the hard and somewhat uneven grounds better than players from other centres. In addition to Taieri, which won its section and was beaten by 2 goals to nil in the final, other teams from the Otago Women's Hockey Association to score well in the sectional play were Kings, who gave the winners the best game of the day, Training College and Momona. In the junior division, Momona went through unbeaten, defeating Naseby in the final. R. A. Roper’s Retirement When announcing his intention to retire from Rugby football, R. A. Roper, the Taranaki., and All Black centre three-quarter said that his present intentions were to hang up his boots for good and not to play even club football next season. Even had he not made this decision, a knee injury suffered in a recent match would probably have prevented his playing again this season. An examination of his right knee revealed a torn cartilage. Roper learnt his football at New Plymouth Boys’ High School, and in 1940 and 1941 won a place in the school first fifteen. The following year he joined the Army and played for a Taranaki regiment. In 1944 he played for Taranaki in its only representative match that season, and later that year for the Auckland Navy team. Overseas, Roper won a place in the New Zealand Services’ team. Back in Taranaki in 1946 he played for the New Plymouth Old Boys’ Club, and won immediate selection for Taranaki. In the 1947 season he played only three matches when he received an ankle injurv which kept him out of the game' for most of the season. He was considered unfortunate again when another injury kept him out of the trials for the 1949 New Zealand team to tour South Africa, but represented New Zealand against the Australian team last year and in the four Tests against the British Isles this season. Badminton Championships

Record entries have been received for the Otago and South Island Badminton Championships and these should produce many excellent contests. All Otago members of the recent victorious New Zealand team will be competing in addition to Mrs Mavis Potts, of Canterbury, and A. T. Skelt. of Southland. The tournament will commerce with handicap and B and C Grade events and will conclude on Saturday evening with all finals.

“We can take it as definite that the 1954 Empire Games will be held in Vancouver,” said the chairman, Mr H. I. Austad, at a recent meeeting of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association’s management committee. He read a circular received from the Canadian Amateur Athletic Union, stating that Vancouver had been voted the venue as a result of a nation-wide mail ballot.