ON HARD AND LAWN COURT

Taranaki Daily News, 15 December 1932, Page 10

ON HARD AND LAWN COURT

THE TARANAKI TOURNAMENT BIG PROVINCIAL TENNIS EVENT. SUCCESSFUL MEETING PROMISED. (By “Half-Volley.”) _ Interest in Taranaki tennis will be centred soon in the provincial championship and Handicap tournament, which will be held on the New Plymouth Club’s courts from January 4 to January 7 inclusive. The entries close on December 31 and the draw will be published in the Daily News of January 3. Last season the tournament clashed with the North Island championships and numbers of visiting players, who in previous years have figured prominently in the tournament, were not competitors in the Taranaki championships. Taranaki players, however, rallied and made the tournament another in a long series of successes. Many who had never previously plaved in the tournament because they considered the standard was. too high for them entered last year and pot one regretted it, for all obtained valuable Experience. Guided by the lessons learned by others last season several players, who can by no means be included in'the top-flight, have already signified their intention of, competing in this season’s tournament, whether there be New Zealand champions to put them out in the first round or not,.. This is the spirit that should be shown and. it. is to be. hoped as many others as possibly can wifi follow their example and benefit not only themselves but the game of tennis in the province to which they belong. It is a provincial tournament for the players of Taranaki and they should support it. Men’s singles and doubles, ladies’ singles and. doubles, combined doubles and boys’ and girls’ singles championship events will be played. Handicap events will also cater for players of every class; there being men’s A and B grade singles, men’s doubles, ladies’ singles and doubles and combined doubles in the list of handicaps. North Taranaki Ladders. T. Dickson (Pukekura Park) advanced to 11th place on the North Taranaki ladder by defeating E. Griffiths (New Plymouth) 5—7, 6—3, 6—2. C. Little (Park) also advanced a step by defeating his club mate, W. Shrimpton, 2—6, B—6, 6—3, for seventh place.. Challenges to be played, with the challenger’s name mentioned first, are:—Miss Gorrie (Waitara) v. Miss G. Baunton (Park) for ninth; T. Dickson (Park) v. K. P. Tompkins (New Plymouth) for tenth ; G. L. Wells (New Plymouth) v. E. Griffiths (New Plymouth) for twelfth; L. Christie (New Plymouth) v. M. Lobb (New Plymouth) for fourth. :, d!

Park Competitions. Championship and handicap events.are progressing fast at the Pukekura Park Club, though the Soffe Cup competition games on Saturday and wet weather for some days have held back the decision of several. matches. Results of matches played during the past week are:— Ladies’ championship singles: Miss J. Walton defeated Mrs. Shrimpton, 9—4; Miss J. Medley defeated Miss M. Henry, 9—5; Miss W. Webster defeated Miss M. Short, 9—l. Ladies’ championship doubles: Misses G. Baunton and P. Walton defeated Mesdames Smith and Winikl, 6—4, 6—2.

Championship combined doubles: Shrimpton and Mrs. Shrimpton defeated Little and Mr?. Baunton, 6—5, 6—3, Ladies’ handicap singles: Miss Cottam (40) defeated Miss East (25), 60—56. Men’s handicap singles: W. Shrimpton (owe 25) defeated W. Short (scr), 60—53, In a ladder match T. Dickson retained fifth place against H. Crawshaw, 6—3, 6-2.

South Taranaki Competition. ' Hardly any matches in the South Taranaki inter-club competition have been completed owing to the weather and practically all the first half of the programme will have to be played after Christmas. This is particularly unfortunate as it will tend to Jessen interest in what should be one of the big features in South Taranaki tennis. Watson Drops a Set. There was another close contest in the Patea-Hawera match, Watson dropping a set to Thompson. In this also Thompson made good use of the slow courts and the wind. 1 A Stern Struggle.

A thrilling contest was provided by G, Wills (Patea) and B. J. McCarthy (Hawera) on Saturday, the former winning in three sets of which the third took 20 games. McCarthy took the first set 6—l and was leading 2—l in the second when he fell and hurt his hand. Wills won the next five games. McCarthy hung on well to lead 5—4 in the third set. He held the odd game to 9-all and had two match points, but Wills then drew away. Even without the injury

to his hand, which prevented him from driving straight down his forehand, though it did not affect his other shots greatly, McCarthy would have been lucky to win because on the dead court Wills’ spin shots were hard to pick up. Hawera Tournament.

The Hawera Club is now receiving entries for its annual tournament which will commence on December 26. This event is growing in popularity every year. The weather should have settled by then and the courts are in perfect order so that it requires only satisfac-* tory entries for the fixture to be a great success- As .usual there will be a strong Wanganui contingent. Manaia v. Patea.

Details of the B grade match between Manaia and Patea on Saturday, with Manaia players mentioned first, are as follow:— Men’s singles: Patterson beat Corbett, 9-3; Garner beat Shield, 9-4; Payne beat Fairweather, 9-6; Ryan lost to Bourn, 5—9. Ladies’ singles: Miss Hughes beat Miss V. Shield, 7—3; Mrs. Freeman beat Miss Papps, 7—o; Miss Hilles beat Miss Honeyfield, 7—l; Mrs. Winter beat Miss Gibbings, 7—3. Men’s doubles: Patterson and Garner beat Corbett and Fairweather, 9—2; Payne and Ryan beat Shield and Bourn, 9t~ 3» ■ ."i ’: Ladies’ doubles: Miss Hughes and Mrs. Freeman beat Misses Shield and Papps, 9—6; Miss Hilles and Mrs. Watson beat Misses Honeyfield and Gibbings, 9—2. Combined doubles: Patterson and Miss Hughes beat Corbett and Miss Shield, 9—l; Garner and Mrs. Freeman beat Shield and Miss Papps, 9—2; Payne and Miss Hilles beat Fairweather and Miss Hoxieyfield, 9—4; Ryan and Miss Winter beat Bourn and Miss Gibbings, 9—l,', ’■ Manaia, 15 sets, 132 games; Patea, 1 set, 50 games. ■ ; * ’ Tournament Dates.

.Among the tournament fixtures for this* season are the following:— ’

North Otago Lawn Tennis Association!’ December 24, 26 and 27. Canterbury L.T.A.: December 24j 26; 27 and 28. Marlborough L.T.A.: December 26, 27 and 28. • ’ Wellington L.T>A.: December 26, 27 and . - 28. Southland L.T.A.: December 26, 27 and 28, Poverty Bay and East Coast L.T.A.: December 26, 27, 28 and 29. Auckland L.T.A. (handicap): December

;X 24, 26, 27, 28 and 29. Manawatu L.T.A.; December 27, 28, 29 . and 30. Auckland L.T.A. (third- grade): December 30, 31, January 2 and 3. South. Canterbury L.T.A.: December 31, January 2, 3 and 4. Wanganui L.T.A.: December 31, January 2, 3 and 4. Otago L.T.A.:, January 2, 3 and 4. Taranaki L.T.A.: January 4,5, 6 and 7. Wairarapa L.T.A.: January 21, 23, 24 and 25. Auckland L.T.A.: January 25, 26, 27, 29 and 30. West Coast L.T.A.: January 25, 26 and 27. ■The North Island championships will be conducted by the Wairarapa Association, January 21 to 25. The.-South Island championships will be conducted by the Canterbury Association, Easter ; dates. . . - St. John’s Club: Easter dates. ...

Hawera Club: December 26, 27 and 28.