TENNIS COMPETITIONS

Southland Times, Issue 23026, 21 October 1936, Page 14

TENNIS COMPETITIONS

Senior B and Intermediate Games

(By

“Volley.”)

There was some interesting form displayed in the senior B matches on Saturday afternoon. It must be stated here and now that play to be interesting need not necessarily be of a high standard. Frequently it was not. Many considered that Southend would be one of the strongest of the senior B teams but Bluff disproved this claim on Saturday when it won comfortably by 11 sets to five. D. B. Hamilton was too good for Buchan and, one can see few who will beat him during the season. Certainly Buchan is not the type to outplay such a basically sound stroke player as Hamilton. Last season this player lost few matches; his serve is accurate, his ground shots sure, and as severe as any drives that are heavily topped can be, and at the net he is better than most. Als-weiler’s patience was not sufficient to worry that muchimproved player Brough; he will have to cultivate more than patience if he ■wishes to win matches in the senior B grade. A. Breen won Southend’s only men’s single. No doubt he set about Johnstone with his usual concentration and aplomb. The elder of the Breen brothers has practised conscientiously and, as a result, his strokes are basically sound. He still has weaknesses but he is never afraid to lose points in an endeavour to improve his strokework and this sacrifice has been well worth while. Stewart will find that victory does not always go to the one who possesses the best shots; there is such a tiring as a psychological win. The Bluff women won three of the four singles, the fast improving Miss Croad being the only Southend player to win her set. Again in the women’s doubles Bluff won both games, In the men’s doubles, however, Breen and Stewart won easily from Doyle and Johnstone. As was expected Hamilton and Brough were too sound for Buchan and Alsweiler. In the mixed doubles each team won two matches and Breen was as noticeable among the lower players as Hamilton was at the top. Miss Croad looks like a tennis player and by that is meant that she looks like one who may soon be playing good tennis. Standard Not High.

It would be foolish to say that the standard of tennis seen when Invercargill played St. Mary’s at St. Mary’s was high. Whatever standard is taken it still was not high. It was interesting and, at times, there were glimpses of promising form, but often there was little to enthuse over.

The St. Mary’s women were on a par with the women from Invercargill each winning two singles and one double. There were many who considered that Miss J. Bendall would soon be playing in the senior A grade. This might be so but one would like to see more of her play before passing any judgment. From the little seen on Saturday one has a lingering suspicion that her play needs tightening up before she would be of any use in senior A grade. A victory over Miss Grace Basstian is, in al' honesty, no indication of more than average ability. Miss Mary Fitzgerald and Mrs Colbert played a long and, not only for them, tiring baseline game which the latter eventually won by the odd game. Miss Hallamore won easily from Miss S. Rankin but Miss F. Basstian, playing with great concentration and improved strokework, won decisively from Miss N. Bendall.

Mayhew, try as he might, could find no counter for Walsh’s accuracy and steadiness. He was run from corner to corner and from net to baseline. Walsh was satisfied to win the point, when and how did not matter very much. The number of times that a crisp volley, punched to the corners, would have finished off an unnecessarily long rally was legion. Neither has a decisive volley or smash. If Mayhew had not been so weak in these shots the score would have been much closer for he appeared to be as sound as his opponent in ground strokes. Most of the men’s singles were cleverly fought out. Ruff held set point against Ward and lost, as only he could, 9 —B. Stirling was narrowly defeated 9 —B by Bendall and P. Walker, despite the fact that his style appeared less pleasing than usual, won from the erratic, but, at times, vaguely impressive, McNee. Invercargill made a small come-back in the mixed doubles but it was then too late. Central Outclassed. Winton, winner of the senior B competition last year, despite the fact that it was without the services of F. Lindsay, Henderson, Mrs Jamieson and one or two others, fairly ate up little Central. Miss F. Stead was the only Central women to win her single. Generally speaking the standard among the women was astonishingly low for senior B grade. Or does one expect too much? Misses Reed and Fairbanks toiled away; their heart was in it but that was all there was in it. Neither attempted to come to the net, both played with the racket drooping on the ground. There can be no doubt that anyone of average ability will be welcomed to Central with open arms and hurried into its top or senior B team. G. Lindsay and L. de la Perrelle won their singles without a great deal of trouble but the two substitutes lost. Len Wood is one of Central’s most promising players. He has all the strokes but frequently just fails to get there. He alone can solve the small, but difficult problem that confronts him.

Rugby Park and Makarewa fought out a close but pleasant battle in the former’s courts. Rugby Park eventually won by eight games, the sets being even. One saw here play that was interesting, play that was even brilliant, and play that was let it pass. In the women’s singles the Glennie sisters won both their games, which was just as well as Miss Hermann and Mrs Mortimer were both beaten. Both Glennies play a similar game and with left-handed chops, heavily topped drives and boundless activity at the net they won both their singles and doubles. Misses Strathern and Kidston were more orthodox and only slightly less dangerous. Sleeman, playing top man for Rugby Park, lost to McClean by nine games to one. One is not trying to detract from the High School boy’s victory when one says that Sleeman should be shot—or perhaps he was—for winning only one game. McClean is a fine little player, but he has his weaknesses. His backhand is not yet sound enough to stand up to a firm attack and his disinclination to come to the net can be turned to advantage. Sleeman, in ordinary circumstances, serves well, drives freely on both hands, and is no sluggard at the net. AU the more credit to McClean. Mclvor is playing as well as ever; forehand, backhand, volley and serve, they all seem to be more or less active still. He defeated Nesbit, who is playing somewhat colourless tennis as yet, 9—5. R. Maxwell is a most difficult player to beat until one learns the right method. Harvey was unable to learn that method on Saturday. During the afternoon J. Hughes

played a number of strokes that were soothing to the nerves after a treatment of senior B mishits and violence. He was serving as well as ever, volleyed firmly and with a wise sense of touch and smashed heartily. His ground shots were sound but not as deep or as flat as one v'ould like to see them. If Sleema ad been playing up to form Rugby Park would have won the top men’s double. Intermediate Matches. In the intermediate grade matches between Invercargill and Rugby Park the Invercargill men more or less won the day. Rugby Park won three of the women’s singles and then, strangely enough, lost both women’s doubles. Miss Wills displayed fairly promising form, but the others failed to convince one that against a team such as Waihopai they would do anything startling. Cowie, Wayte and Rankin all won their singles. Corbet was beaten by J. Hardy, who has his moments, but never all together. Cowie and Wayte are playing steadily, but against more versatile opponents—and they will meet several of these —will peed to be more severe.

Waihopai, which has entered no team in the senior B competition, should go very close to winning the intermediate grade. Its women are not wonderful, but they are very sound and its men should suffer few defeats. The only player on Saturday' who was extended at all was R. Boyd, and as long as his number of temperamental weaknesses remain he will continue to be troubled. The former Wyndham player, E. Pankhurst, ran him to 9—7 in the singles. The hard-hitting Smith, Mitchell with the devastating forehand but much less devastating backhand, and Kean, the correct and conscientious all-round stroke player, all had comfortable victories. In the mixed doubles, however, Makarewa managed to break even.

The Tisbury players take their competition games seriously and on Saturday they saw to it that St. Mary's was given no let-up. Candidly, one did not expect them to win by as many as 13 sets to 3. Against the all-conquering march of the Mclntoshs and Johnstons, V. Shirley was the only man to win his single. Miss A. Hallamore won against Miss J. Mclntosh, but the other St. Mary’s women could only stand and admire the boundless energy that seems to be part and parcel of Tisbury tennis. Nothing is too much trouble for these players, no ball is unreturnable and so is victory gained. In the mixed doubles St. Mary's failed to win a set. A Close Match. Although the Georgetown women lost every single and both doubles Kennington finally won the match by only nine sets to seven and were only two games ahead at the end. This is surely a tribute to the ability of the Georgetown men. The Kennington men failed to win a set. F. Henry has played in better tennis than this and, despite a certain looseness in his style, was too good for the persistent Henderson. C. McLean and G. Cleveland, both youthful players who hit with abandon and yet with no lack of direction, won well from A. Cook and J. McLew respectively. J. Davidson, who among these players must consider himself a veteran, is still capable of beating most players in this grade. It was a peculiar position. The Kennington women won six matches and so had the Georgetown men. Were the Kennington women, comparatively speaking, stronger than the Georgetown men? Apparently they were as Kennington won three of the mixed doubles. In last week’s notes it was stated that Mrs Barnett, the former Eastern District representative who is now playing for Kennington, was defeated by Miss G. Fox, of the same club. The reason for her defeat was attributed to lack of practice, although it was difficult to imagine how a player of her ability had slumped to that extent. However, the published report during the week indicated her defeat by Miss Fox and so that was all there was about it. I am now able to say that the information received was wrong and that Mrs Barnett was a comfortable victor. Later in the week she beat Miss G. Fox 7—o in a ladder match. On Saturday Mrs Barnett had little difficulty in winning all , her matches against Georgetown. Labour Day Arrangements. As usual there will be no competition matches on the Saturday prior to Labour Day. Many players will be out of town and this decision is inevitable. The usual Labour Day tournament will be held at Winton when men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles will be played. Players from all over Southland go to Winton on this day, and if the tennis is not a success no one worries. The Waihopai Club is also holding a Yankee tournament on Labour Day and to those who do no{ wish to leave the city, one could not spend a more enjoyable day than at these fine courts.

A team of city players will also be travelling to Queenstown, during Labour Day week-end to play a friendly match with the Queenstown representatives. The personnel of tlio team is as yet unknown.