ON THE COURTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11332, 9 March 1915, Page 7

ON THE COURTS.

TENNIS NOTES. (By KOOT-FAI'LT.) During the past, two weeks 1 paid fr<-<p!-nt. raits to the 11 nstevt on Tennis ('iii.courts, at. Masterton. The elnb b;.". in e grass courts well situated, and a ..'teat, number ot very keen members. 1 lie standard of tennis is not high, b.it the keenness displayed if rightly directed might, produce champions. Fho guiding liand of a well tried player is needed U< direct the eifort> ot the yeiuieer aspirants. r J !io trouble has been that, most of the good players the club has ever possessed have been itinerant, and the.v have eventually been transferred to other towns. Cox. who hailed first from Christchurch. was a member of the club lor a time, and ho did all that was in his power t<> assist the younger members. Several premising natural styles are apparent amoncc young players, both men and ladies, and all that is. lacking is the guiding hand. Anxious to foster the game tn Wairarapa the executive of the club has arranged :ntor-club matches at points as widely apart as Pahiatun. and Ma rtinbo rough. Despite the exceedingly dry season in the Wairarapa district, the courts are showing no irreparable signs of wear and are retaining their surface well. Visitors are entertained with great hospitality and games are easily arranged.

OPAWA v. ADDTNGTON. Ojpawa met and defeated Addington on Saturday by 63 games to 28. The following are the details of the play; Opawa players mentioned first:— W. S. Burnet beat TV. S. M'Gibbon 9-5. after a short but hard struggle, both indulging in hard hitting, which is the characteristic game of each. Burnet shot out in front to 8-2, and then to the ultimate score of 0-5. M'Gibbou is a good style of player and if he conquered his rashness should prove very useful. T. Patterson heat IV. Jones 9-2. The Opawa man made the pace from the word go and was never troubled- Jones k a doubles player. He had not the vivacity of the Opawaite, who for once kept moving till he landed the set.

A. 1). Tench beat A. Steere 9-3. Another example of the Aldington man being outclassed by his opponent. Tenoh winning this match established a elo&n slato with regard to his single plav, having gone through the competition without naving to acknowledge a defeat. H. Tillman landed home with the goods against Dr Allison, 9-5. At one stage the Opawa man had his opponent 8-1 and then displayed the indisposition that two of his team are affected with at times, that of easing up. l>r Allison would be more dangerous if he played more frequently. He hn.fi a troiiblesome service at. times.

Patterson and Tench met more than their match in M'Gibbon and Jones jn the doubles, suffering defeat at the hands of the home team by tho small margin of 9-8. It was a sterling match, the Addington pair combining, remarkably well and showing excellent •judgment. Burnet and Tillman won as they liked. 9-1. Allison and Steere could never do the right thing at the right time. If they had done so things would have been decidedly awkward, for the Opawa pair who are very slap-dash in their methods.

On the Opawa courts two championship matches were played off during the week —H. Tillman met and ed S. Clayton 7-3, 6-4, It was a fairly even-go, but the B. team man's experience in match piny stood him in aood stead. W. S. Burnet heat T. Patterson. 9-7, 6-<t. after a very gruelling contest. The match lasted two hours.

Entries for the Wilding Cuo closed yesterday with fourteen entries. SUMNER r. SOUTH CHRJSTCHTJROir. .

The match between Harvey and Potter was much closer than the score indicates. Harvey played his usual game but Potter quite excelled himself and undoubtedly played hif> best game this season. Time and again ho had Harvey * beaten but just lacked _ the little extra that would have finished off the point. Ackroyd played as second man (on account of Tn.it being off colour) a J scl after a. very even game he succeeded in defeating Hulbert, 9-8. Ackroyd is always a Jiard man to pass at the net and last Saturday he was playing quite at his best. Under the circumstances Hulbert deserves praise for his stern fight. Tait had no difficulty iu beating .Fee, and Williams also accounted for Gallagher. Gallagher has a splendid back-hand- drive, but it (lid not seem so effectual against Williams (a left-handed pinyer) as I have seen it against other players. Harvey and Tait had to strike their colours to Potter and Hulbert in the doubles to the tune of 4-9. I believe this is the only occasion this season on which the first-mentioned- players have been defeated. Tait was undoubtedlv not himself, but nevertheless on the clay he and Harvey were no match for 'their opponents. Potter's lobbing won his side many points and Hulbert at the net played '» sterling game. Harvey did not serve so well as usual and his drives lacked St Ackroyd and Williams 'luuV no difficulty in" defeating Fee and Gallagher, who' seemed quite nonplussed by Aokrovd's punishiiur smashes at the net. By winniiur this match Sumner bare now earned thf right to play off in tho sein'-f'nni for the championship.

SUBURBAN COMPETITIONS. The suburban competitions were continued last Saturday, when Riccarton Domain A beat Ralswell by 88 gamea to 6-5. St. .lames beat Prebble-. lon by 80 to 81 and Paparua heat St Peters by 82 to 6'2 games, each side playing one man short. «. The match Ricearton A v. Halswell wns won by the ladies of the former team, as thev completely outclassed the Halsvell ladies, while the Ricearton men did not show to any .idvantage at all, their play on the whole showing a woeful Jack of practice. St James effected a surprise by beating PrebbJeton, ub Prebbleton were looked upon as a particularly strong team. In the ladies' section the surprise of the day was tho defeat ol Mrs Christian (St .T.) by Miss Legg (p.), 6-0, and the defeat of Miss Thomson (St J.) by Miss M'Milken (P.), tM. Miss Thomson is a sterling player, and a keen sport, and would he the firs* to congratulate her young opponent. In the men's singles Hayncs (P.) defeated M'Kay (St J.), Q4. Haynes is playing very well just now, and gets everything. Ricketts (St J.) beat M'Gill (P.). t'-2. M'Gill would get on better if he lifted them a little more. Gardiner (St. J.) heat Coleman (P.), 9-8, after 11. good game, and Duthfp (St J.) beat. Saunders, D-2. ii * A meeting of the Suburban Association was held last Wednesday, when it was decided to play the matches every Saturday instead of fortnightly as at present." It- was also agreed to close the. competition at any date the association should decide, as at it* present stage it was practically settled. Mr E. .T. Tayler promised to endeavour to arrange a match between teams representing the association and or two of the citv clubs. * » V AI jEDICTORV. To-night (Tuesday) a presentation is to bo made to Mr J. (!. Chase by the residents of Hicearton. A presentation is ■ also being made to hint by tho members oi the Riecarton Domain Tennis Club. Since its incep-

tkm !YJr Chase has done a wonderful lot. of work lor the club. As president lie has entertained visiting clubs and ho lias practically financed the (■liib in all it.s undertakings. His leaving the district will ho keenly lelt by members. na it is mainly duo to his influence that. the club is in its present goor) pittition. May good lurk attend liim wherever lie rocs is tin.' wish of* tho members of tin- Ricrarf.on Domain Tennis Club. GENERAL NOTES.

The mat-eli, Catholic. Cathedral v. St Albans, was to have' been played last Saturday, but the rain in the morning necessitated it postponement till next Saturday. Should Catholic. Cathedral win. they will bo in the playoff with Sumner and Opuwn. J.n the match with St Albans ori Saturday, the Cnthedrnl tram will. I understand, be without, the services of Williams, their first man, who is representing Canterbury at the New Zealand athletic, championship meeting in Wellington. His place will be taken by J. Lagan, who played for the club last reason and has been playing off and on this season. Lagan played really well last season, but is not keen enough this season, his enthusiasm, coining irt fits and starts. T. O'Connoll is playing much better than he did last season. and cap be relied on to put up a good fight. His hack-lino play is not very strong, but bis net play, where he is .seldom caught, napping, makes up for any deficiency there. He. however, does not combine at all well with O'Connor, and shots are frequently Jet past through a misunderstanding between those players. Cahil! lias a good first serve, but. a weak second one. His serving and driving are alike in that they take a lot.of returning when they got in. He gets a lot of pace on to his driving, but his length is erratic until he gets ■going. O'Connor has a quick eye and' is a good net player, but in a match he is too cautious and ought to open out more. He also ought to make more 'use of his reach when serving, in which department of the game he seems to take no interest.