Two Nights Of Table Tennis Contests

Southland Times, Issue 23840, 10 June 1939, Page 15

Two Nights Of Table Tennis Contests

SPIN

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The Southland Table Tennis Association’s new room at the Orange Hall has proved to be very popular with players and all those taking part in the tournament appeared to be very satisfied. The lighting is good for all tables and while it might be improved a little for championship matches it is certainly a big improvement on that in the last room. The tournament was very successful as there were 74 entries on Tuesday evening and 97 on Wednesday evening. The outstanding woman player on the Tuesday night was Mrs G. Caldwell, who, in spite of being short of practice, won the singles from the owe 3 mark and with Miss M. McGrath won the doubles from the owe 5 mark. This was a good performance for Mrs Caldwell and now that she is going to take a greater interest in the game she will be an asset for representative matches, especially if she regains her form of 1937 when she was South Island champion. « . Miss M. McGrath played well in her doubles matches but found her handicap in the singles too great. Miss T. Ferns won the women’s consolation singles after a close game with Miss

J. Lynch. Miss Ferns is placing her shots very well at present and this was a big factor in her win on the Wednesday night when another women’s singles handicap was played. Miss J. Deegan can be depended on. to hold her own in handicap events and it was not surprising to find her gaining a win in the consolation event on the second night of the tournament. MEN’S SURPRISES ’ Considerable interest was taken in the men’s scratch event which was held on Tuesday night and as is often the way with such competitions there were several surprises. The main match of the first round was that between Breayley and Stewart and while many thought that the latter player would be successful Breayley proved to be the winner in two straight games. Stewart’s driving was not as accurate as usual and this was probably caused by his opponent playing most of his shots with a heavy chop. In the next round Breayley again had a good win when he beat Hollander, the fifth ranked player, by two games to one. In the semi-finals Robson’s placements gave him a win in straight games ' over Breayley but only after a very I good game. The other semi-final between Ferguson and Brown was one of the most exciting games seen here and with both players driving strongly and accurately the spectators were shown how table tennis should be played. Ferguson | won after three very close games and I he is to be congratulated on beating I his opponent who was at the top of his j form. j The final of the men’s championship I singles between S. Robson and J. Ferguson, both of the Star Club, resulted | in one of the finest exhibitions seen in [ Invercargill this season. The first j game opened with hard drives to the i side lines by Ferguson who was play- I ing brilliantly but Robson retaliated j with superb placements that were chiefly responsible for his winning the | first game. The second game ! at a fast pace but Robson, rapicuy gaining his opponent’s measure, forced j him into many mistakes. Although Fer- ; guson lost in straight games he played very well throughout and his driving won him many points. MIXED DOUBLES The main competition on Wednesday evening was the mixed doubles and | this resulted in a win for Mr and Mrs I S. Robson (owe 3) who defeated J. | Ferguson and Miss T. Ferns (owe 2) in the final by 31 to 28. The game was close throughout, first one pair taking the lead and then the other. Ferguson’s driving won him many points as usual but this was counterbalanced by Robson’s placements which, in doubles, are usually very effective. Miss Ferns and Mrs Robson are both playing well at present and both supported their partners very well. O. Paton and Mrs Paton played well in this competition and ran the ultimate winners very close in the semi-final. Of the other pairs I the best was probably Breayley and Mrs J. Mariott who did well from a back mark.

The men’s B grade competition resulted in a win for W. Spence who, considering that he has not been playing in matches, did very well. A visitor from Wellington, T. Katz, took part in this competition but was put out early, but in the A grade he did very well to reach the final where he was just beaten after a hard struggle with Robson (owe 7). Matches will take place as usual next week but arrangements may be made to play the matches on another night if any teams have difficulty in finding a team as apparently may happen with women’s teams on Monday evening.