LAWN TENNIS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 36, 11 February 1905, Page 12

LAWN TENNIS.

! (By "Rukete.' 7 ) The inlcr-club matches la.st Saturday i were ino-st interesting, both contests beinsr very even. j The linal of the Men's Championship Doubles between Bamiord and Brown land Peterson and Longuct ivas a great 1 tight, It was anyone's game till the . bitter end. The former pair appeared :to have somewhat more combination 'than the Weßt Enders. and this gave ■ Ihem the victory. All four men played .hard for the honour. Bamford was steady, and did some good lobbing: (Brown .smashed well, but was a. bit off in his serve; Pa-ter&ori played a pretty sjanie: ]ip has, however, evidently lost a loi of bis old dash and confidence; Longuel got in some nice driven, but tlie lobs appeared to worry him and his partner. Taken all round, the game "was a very fair exhibition of tennis. The championship list is now com'plrie. The following have obtained the ipoveied honour: —Men's Singles, E. D. |Kice and Dr. Keith (bracketed): Ladies' Singles: Stfis? D. l"dy; Ladies' Doubles. Musses Ciray and Rice; Men's Doubles, H. 1). Bamford and A. S. C. Brown: Combined Doubles, A. 1~. Billing and Miss D. Ucly. SaJidford and Hudson gave the West Enders (Olrphant and McCoy] a bit of a shock in the inter-club match last I Saturday. The latter pair bad given Pa-tcrson and Longuet a hard tussle in the championships, so the result 'came a- a surprise, i like the Auckland men's style: a back - hand drive they both cultivate is exceedingly effective and pretty. They abandoned the run-ning-iu game and lobbed with good re-;-uit.s. A little more steadiness and j.his combination would prove a hard nut for the pick of our players to erark. Upton and Morpcth had an easy time with Jackson and Paletborpo. The lacier player wa« inaccurate, and hi* partner was kepi on the defensive all through. .lackson is a difficult man in beat in a single, but does'not show to advantage in double play. Stevenson and Cox succumbed to Marky ami KeJman. This was unexpected, and was evidently due to. the heady play of the veteran Shoreite and the Paraell pair's lack of i-otb binaiioj). Tlipy have played togetfler on several orra-sions. liul did not soern 1q pet jroinsr at all on Saturday. Tlic variou.s <lub competitions are now in full swing; all the courts are kept- going merrily, and umpires are in jrreat demand. Player- should obtain a copy oi t-he handbook issued yndo'r the auspices of the New Zealand Association. A history of the game in the colony i< given, as well as lot-s of useful information. The indefatigable secretary (Mr Goldie) has put in a great deal of hard work in compiling the book, and he deserves every encour- ' ageiwnf in hi- pffitrts to further Ihe interests of the sport. Secretaries of local clubs can supply. Auckland Club made a good light against West l£n<l. winning three of the events. North Shore also made things lively for ParneJl. scoring a wcll-dc-serv*"d victory. Tlir resnJts of the inter-club matches praycrl last Saturday are: Devonport v. Pamcll —Combined A: Devonport won— 7 —-o. 4—G, (i—.'!. Ladies' A : Devonport won—(i—2. 6—2. Men's A: Devonport wrm—(l—;"j. a—fi. fi— 2. Men's B: Parnell won —S—6. 6 —2. Ladies' B: Parncll won—G— 2. 6—4. Combined B: Dev-ouporr won—ft—2. 6—5. West End v. Auckland—Ladies' A: Auckland won —6—f>. o—s. Combined A: West End Tvorn — c> —2, (i —.'I. Men's A: West End won—fi— ]. (■>—4. Men's B: Auckland wor? —f>—4. 6—5. Ladies' B: Auckland woia—6 —2. (i —k>. Combined B: West End won—6—2. 6—3.