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Southland Times, Issue 23335, 20 October 1937, Page 14

Owing to the hostilities between China and Japan it was unlikely that the two brilliant Japanese 'athletes, Kenshi Togami, jumper, and Kohei Murakoso, distance runner, would be heard of on the athletic field again, stated Mr H. L. Towers, president of the Auckland Amateur Athletic Centre, at the annual meeting of the centre. Mr Towers said that Togami was now in the Japanese Army and might not be heard of for two years. Murakoso, although he said that he was going to throw away his shoes after his New Zealand tour, ran 10,000 metres in 30min 39 4-ssec, the best time for that distance registered last year, shortly after his return to Japan, added Mr Towers, but he, too, was likely to be lost to athletics in the struggle now being waged.

R. L. Riggs, who has been placed fifth in the world’s first 10 lawn tennis players by Wallis Myers, the noted English critic, and who sensationally beat von Cramm in straight sets last Monday, is one of the many remarkable young players California has produced. He is 19 years old, sft BJin in height and weighs 10 stone. Like most Californian tennis players, he has been brought up on stern tournament competition, and his tactics and courtcraft show maturity. He can play an all-court game, but prefers the base-line, where his uncanny anticipation helps him keep in position.