THE SPORTING WORLD

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 404, 11 February 1913, Page 2

THE SPORTING WORLD

December 20. | ATHLETIC TOPICS . The writer understands that.Hans Braun has decided to retire from the running, path. He proved himself a great runner, and Germany will be hard put to it to produce his equal. Braun lacked head work in his Taces, and he certainly threw away a few yards in the 800 metres at Stockholm ' last July, and even then was level with ; the winner a dozen yards from the tape, \ the race being run in world's record time. The news that the great H. Kolehmainen (of Finland) has been beaten in the Cross- I country Championship of the United States seems to have surprised many followers of j athletics here. It really ought not to. The i greatest runners in the world have had j their off days, and it should always be re- j membered that a man is human, and not a : machine. Change of climate frequently up- ' sete an athlete, as many instances go to show. When Alfred Shrubb returned to England after his trip to New Zealand he astonished everyone by failing badly in the Four-mile Championship, which, J> Smith (of Bradford) won ih>the moderate j time of. 21min Bfsec. It is a curious thing { in connection with the effects of another climate that athletes frequently perform well on arriving in a new country, but go off at a later period. This is- a matter of considerable importance' to athletes and their officials, in view of international. com- i petition. Personally, the writer considers an athlete should arrive about 10 days being called on to make a big effort, providing the voyage to the new country does not take, more than a week. If, however, the journey occupies four or five weeks, then i the athlete must have four to six weeks to train on his arrival. As illustrating the ! effects of climate, the writer was fortunate enough to win the two miles indoor championship of the United States two weeks after landing in New York. Three months later he ran a three miles match with the late T. P. Conneff on the same trackMadison Square Garden, then a dirt path eight laps to the mile. Conneff really only had to canter to win, the time being 16min 3sec, and the loss of form was certainly due to no other cause than the change of climate. It was not until another four months had passed that the lost pace was recovered. The moral is that an athlete may run well for the first few weeks he lands in a strange country, but is then likely to lose his form, only getting it back after six to nine: montlis. This brings us back to Kolehmainen, who may be expected to sTiatter many records during the next outdoor athletic season. He ought, however, to give up racing for a time, restricting himself to light exercise only during the winter. , —Cross-country Running. — ' It' used to be thought that Australia did not produce stayers, but recent' happenings have upset the idea. No doubt the heat of the country is all against fast times in distance races, but when good Australians live in England they usually perform well. Th© win of Cleamee in the Intervarsity Cross-country Race a few years ago showed this to be so, and now Sproule (of Melbourne) has followed in his footsteps. The raoe between Oxford and Cambridge at Roehampton on Saturday was the 33rd, and it gave Oxford the fifth consecutive victory, though Cambridge still' leads oh total wins. It was expected, that the 'race for first place would rest between G. M. Sproule and D. V. Gaussen, a freshman from Berkhamsted. This proved to be the case, the former pulling up fresh" at the end' of the 7£ miles, with a lead of 26sec from Gaussen, . the winner'6 time being 44min 14sec. The Oxford team of five totalled 24 points to the 31 by Cambridge, the latter makinug a closer light -titan many expected. The race shows that Oxford has two splendid 6tayers in Sproule. and Gaussen, whilst A. E.,Telfer and J. K. Bousfield (both Cambridge freshmen) are also likely to be prominent in, the future. » — A Likely Man. — The Midland Novice Championship of 1911 6erved to introduce a great long-dis-tance runner in S. S« Greenway, and this year's; event has enabled another < likely man to come to the front. He is A. Sanderson, of the Sparkhill Harriers, who beat his 2QOL rivals at Knole on Saturday like a real champion. England can do witli another Shrubb or A. E. Wood, and while it would not do to assume the Sparkhill man will fill the bill, he is certainly a flier. BILLIARDS. Inman and Reece are having a rare; battle in their match of 18,000 up, the latter with 1,250 start. Reece made a fine break of 410 nearing the half-way stage, but Inman responded with 314 so that' the scratch man was only 66 points behind with the match half over. On resuming this week, Inman went to the front at 9,117 to 9,103. Reece was soon 400 in front again but Inman came with another effort and led at 10,098 to 10,096. Once more Reece responded, and with In-

man playing below par, Reece led by 616 with the match three-quarters over. Reece kept his end end up yesterday and was still 500 points to the good when play, ended last evening. RUGBY FOOTBALL. Although Waleß did not beat the South Africans at Cardiff. Park on Saturday, the Springboks had a very anxious time of it. The ground was heavy and the ball greasy so that accurate handling was out of the question. The fine work of the South African "threes" was missing, this, being due to the manner the Welshmen attended to the centres, who - seldom got a ■ chance to set the wings jn motion. It was a. forward struggle for the most part, and right well the lighter Welshmen came out of the ordeal. There was a brief period during the second half when the home forwards looked to. be , on top. Several chances were lost, however* through excitement. With the wind -behind, the slightest tap sent the ball many yards and this was often forgotten, with dire consequences. The victory of the Springboks was really due to Reece-Thomas. He forgot himself so far during a scrum that he got mixed up with, the rival forwards and started: to kick about wildly. A penalty kick was awarded and D. Morkel goaled — the only score of the match. The Welshmen were given a penalty for- off-side soon after, but Birt missed a -chance to even things up from an j easy position. The Welsh crowd did not show, their usual enthusiasm prior to the match and it was plain that a reverse was expected. W. A. Miller, captain of the South Africans, considers the match about the hardest he has taken part in. The tackling certainly was no kid glove affair, yet the game was a clean one. It now looks as though the South Africans will win all their internationals, thanks to the help of the English Selection Committee. These worthy gentlemen, anxious to please all sections of rugby, are chopping and changing the make up of England's team, when the proper course was to select the side (with reserves) a month ago, giving the team five or six practice matches. The Springboks had another hard game at Neath yesterday, and although they won by 8 points to 3, the home side gave the visitors a good game. IN GENERAL. j -We are now in the thick of the hockey | season, 6everal important county matches claiming attention on Saturday. Lancashire beat Durham with ease (4-0) and Cheshire disposed of Northumberland (3-0). R. S. Clarke and H. M. v Macintosh (athletics), C. N. Lowe (Rugby), and R. Le Blanc Smith (rowing) are among the men prominent in sports who have taken B.A. degrees at Cambridge University lately. Owing to the illness of Grognet, the proposed boxing match between the Frenchman and Bombardier Wells, of England* has been declared off. Con O'Kelly, of Englahd,.ahd J. Lerinun, of Switzerland, " met to; decide, a catch-as-catchkian wrestling match at Hull on Monday; Early in the-bOut, however, the men fell off the raised form, and. Kelly had to retire with f a wrenched back muscle. Thedeath of Common is announced. ' The son; of, lsonomy, out; of Thistle, woh.the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby, andivSt. Ledger of 1891, and had he lived until July 1, would have been 25 years of age. .Henley; Regatta has ;been fixed for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the' first week in July. Major-Geineral: Bethune says that if the interest <in the Territorial movement is not" so strong asit might be, it is because "those lazy devils* who^play golf all day ignore their.' duty : to their country."