Leg Injury Still Hampers Doug. Harris

Chronicle (Levin), 28 May 1949, Page 6

Leg Injury Still Hampers Doug. Harris

« Received Friday, 8.50 p.m. - LONDON, May 26. . Though the New Zealand runner Douglas Harris is naturaily greatly pleased by Ms reeord-breaking win over A. S. Wint in the half-inile event at the universities athletic ehampionship meeting last Saturday he is not satislied that his injured leg is yet fully recovered. He is still experiencing difficulty in rounding the bends at high speed, and said this was the real reason why he left his winning sprint in the university half-mile until he had passed the final turn. This was' also the reason why he did not enter in the Wiistryt :Mile which he considers his best distance. "I simply cannot negotiate a bend at '440 speed," lie said. Harris does not intend to overdo matters this season but to concentrate upon being fully recovered by the time he is ready to return to New Zealand in mid-November. He will run for the Leieestershire ;County Athletic Club at the White City .on July 2 and 1(5, and on June 11 may run in the athletic meeting at Dublin. Two 13-a-side crieket teams, one representing New Zealand civilians living in London and the other representing New Zealand ex-servicemen, met on the Upper Clapton Rugby Football Club's ground at Epping last weekend. The civilians, who batted first, made 122 to which the servicemen re- ' plied with 100. The fixture, the first of its kind to be held among New Zealanders in Londan, proved so successful that another match is to be arranged be"tween a combined New Zealand civiiian and ex-servicemen 's team and a team 'representing the Upper Clapton Rqgby Club. This club has already a number of New- Zealand members. Whoever may win the British amateur golf ehampionship at present in progress at Port Marnock, it is agreed by all golf writers attending the ehampionship tlrat there will be no better match than that in which R. J. White, one of Britain 's leading amateurs, beat P. B. Lucas,- the British Walker Cup captain, in the third round on May 25. The match went to the 20th hole where White sanlc a 15-foot putt while Lueas's final shot coining in from an equal distance struek the lip of the cup and bounced clear. There was so little between the two

men that the match looked like continuing indefinitely. They halved most of the early hoies in par figures, and it was not till the 16th that White obtained a lead of ohe. Then Lucas holed out from 15 feet- playing up a difficuit bank and made the match all . square and one to play. Lucas almost holed his tee shot at the 18th, but White nalved by sinking from a bunker. ' This year 's Wimbledon tournamenr has attraeted tKe r'stronge'st entry since the war., There is hardly a piayer of world class wh'o will not be competing. The Ameriean entry includes both Richard Gonzales, the present singles champioh of the. United' States, ano Prederick Schroeder, the Ameriean Davis Cup piayer, who ranks next below him. The two are very keen rivals and Wimbledon may well deeide the hotly debated question about their ranking. Schroeder after the Ameriean national championships beat Gonzales on no fewer than six consecutive oecasions. He has also beaten the Australian stars Bromwich and Pails both in Australia and in Ameriea. Bob Falkenburg, who won the Wimbledon singles titlq last year, will defend it, but on his recent form Ameriean tennis writers consider he will be beaten by both -Schroeder and Gonzales. The strongest of the Continental champions is probably tne Czech, Jarosl-av Drobny, who recent ly playe^d a majort part in eliminating Britain from this yeSr's Davis Cup competition. Among the Australians John - Bromwich and Dick Sedgman will be back again, and this year'no less an authority than Dan Maskell, professional champion of Great Britain, considers that Sedgman will prove to be the better playei'. The most, favoured of the Commonwealth entrants is the Soutn African, Eric Sturgess, who got through . to the final of the Arfi.eri.cait champibnship last year three months after he had .been defeated at Wimblftdon. Hono'urs in th.e woirfen's singles seem almost certain to go to the United States. Missv Louisfe Brough, the present liolder of the Wimbledon women 's title, will again be competing and ^so will the present Ameriean women 's champion, Mrs. Margaret Osborne Dupont, and Miss Doris Hart who is thiro I' ranking Ameriean woman. England's hopes are not bright, but rest ehieliy upon Tony Mottram among the men and Miss Jean Quertier among the women. Mrs. Jean Bostock, who is at present England's number one ranking woman piayer, will not be competing.