Clash Of Top Tennis Teams

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30976, 4 February 1966, Page 15

Clash Of Top Tennis Teams

A day lost earlier in the season and heavy commitments for tournaments and representative matches have resulted in a big week-end for club tennis.

Senior men and senior women will play both tomorrow and on Sunday. The senior men got in a round at the United club’s courts last Saturday morning while the national junior championships were in progress at Wilding Park. It w'as the round postponed by rain on November 20.

Now the competition is at • crucial stage. Tomorrow’s matches will be the seventh, the end of the series for the eight teams, and they will decide the division for sectional play, the first round of which will be on Sunday. The important meetings tomorrow will be between Woolston and North Linwood. University and Cashmere. Unbeaten this season and winner for the last two seasons, Woolston is ahead with 86 points but it will be Playing a team which, although it has only 71, ousted University from sec-

ond position last Saturday. North Linwood will be making a strong effort to finish closer to the head of the first series.

However, Woolston. North Linwood and University, which will meet Linwood Avenue (22), are all certain to enter the top section so the fixture between Elmwood (52) and Cashmere (48) will

decide the fourth team in the top section. Elmwood has lost its top man, W. Thom, who has gone to Auckland; it still beat Linwood Avenue with the loss of only one match last week. Cashmere allowed Edgeware its first win of the season last week.

The remaining fixture tomorrow is between Edgeware

(23) and Beckenham (19) and Edgeware will be keen to show that one win is not its limit At the same time Beckenham will be strengthened by the return of its top player, J. Mitchell from his Australian trip. The senior women, who have yet to catch up their postponed matches from November 20—they did not play last Saturday—will also play tomorrow and Sunday. This will complete six rounds for the four teams and two complete series. They will have another on February 12, 19. and March 3. In this section there is also a crucial meeting tomorrow when the two leaders, Avonside and Elmwood, clash. There is only one point separating them—46 and 45 respectively. Last time they met Avonside won, 4-2, although without its leading player, Mrs R. Davy. However, in the round immediately before Christmas, Avonside lost to Edgeware which evened them up again. In the other contest Edgeware (31) will play Shirley (6). On Sunday the draw will be Elmwood v. Edgeware, Shirley v. Avonside, the round that was to have been played on January 22. Matches tomorrow will be in the morning at United for both men and women.