Chopping And Sawing Championships

Southland Times, Issue 23825, 24 May 1939, Page 11

Chopping And Sawing Championships

By

SPIKE

The leading axemen of Otago and Southland will be taking part in the chopping and sawing championships to be staged by the Caledonian Society of Invercargill in the Civic Theatre on Monday night. Twenty-four bushcraft events are included in the programme and there should be some outstanding performances.

Bushcraft events are always one of the most popular features of Professional sports meetings in Southland during the summer and the decision of the Caledonian Society to give the public an opportunity to see bushcraftcarnivals in the winter is a wise one. Those who attend the championships on Monday night will see thrilling duels of skill and strength and will realize why Southland and Otago axemen and sawyers have won such a high reputation, not- only in New Zealand but in Australia and Tasmania. ■ Cyril Hayes, the Southland and Otago underhand and standing champion axemen, will be defending his 15-inch underhand chop title, and this event alone will be one of outstanding mter-

est. Hayes won his two titles 12 months ago when he defeated Charles Harding in both events in a private match for a purse of £5O. Hayes on this occasionis compelled to meet all-comers, but it is not yet certain whether Harding will be able to compete. However, there will be strong opposition for Hayes among the other axemen who have entered. Among the opponents for Hayes will be three from Catlins river. The first of these is B. Poultney, who won the “double” at the Tarara meeting at Easter and was beaten by only a fraction by M. Callihan in the final of the £3O chop at the Tawanui meeting on Easter Monday. Poultney is a tall, lithely-built axeman with a fair stroke and plenty of pace, but it is doubtful whether he will be able to lowej Hayes’s colours. R. Anglem is another Catlins river man who will be challenging Hayes. A few years ago Anglem was one of Southland’s best backmarkers and on several occasions has won his way to a place in the final of the big chop at Tuatapere on New Year’s Day. YOUTHFUL AXEMAN M. Callihan, the third member of the Catlins river team, is only a youth of 18, but he shows great promise. He won the big chop at Tawanui off Bsec behind in brilliant fashion, and should get valuable experience if he starts in the championship. J. McColgan, of Progress Valley, is one of the most likely to give the champion some bother. He is a middlemarker of more than average ability, but is more at home in standing cuts.

J. Lee, of Groye Bush, is another

who should be prominent in the championship. He has made great improvement in the past two seasons, and his win at the Browns meeting last athletic season stamps him as one who must be given consideration.

One whose chances can by no means be overlooked is J.’ Pont, the veteran Southland axeman who is a firm favourite with crowds at every sports meeting on the Southland circuit. At the Caledonian Society’s carnival last July he showed that he is still one of the finest axemen in Southland by winning the finals of both handicap chops. If he is in form he is one of the most likely of the Southland competitors to deprive Hayes of his title. In the final of the 12-inch underhand handicap last July, Pont cut two seconds faster than Hayes did when he beat Harding in the match contest, and many experienced bushcraft followers were of the opinion that Pont was still the best of the three. It is safe to say that there will be very few who are not supporting him on Monday night.

In the 18-inch double-handed sawing championship, the New Zealand titleholders and former world champions, the Fraser brothers, will meet strong opposition. Bates and partner, R. Fraser and J. Lee, Waldron and Mclntosh, Blanks and O’Brien, Manson and Thomas and the Middleton brothers are teams good enough to compete against the cream of the sawyers of New Zealand and Australia. When W. Johnston, of Sydney, the world’s champion axeman, was in Southland last sports season, he expressed the opinion that the standard of sawing in Southland was as high as any he had seen in Australia. It will be only reasonable, therefore, to expect outstanding performances in this event _on Monday night. The pairs most likely to beat the Fraser brothers are Blanks and O’Brien and Waldron and Mclntosh. Both these pairs have cut down to 14sec in good wood. i

! The remarkable spectacle of ! four famous tennis players on ; the point of collapse, the match ; having to be abandoned, occur- ! red when Perry and Budge > played Vines and Keith Gled- | hill at Los Angeles recently. | After each had won two sets ! the score was 19-19 in the fifth ! set when the four weary, limp- ! ing professionals gave up. Budge ; suffered from cramp, Vines had ; crashed into the wall in retriev- ! ing a shot and injured his back, J and Gledhill appeared to be ; almost fainting from fatigue. ! Perry was not in such a bad < way. Thirty-eight games in one ! set of a doubles match must be ; a record.