LAWN TENNIS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 152, 21 March 1908, Page 9

LAWN TENNIS.

(Br Inteh-CLUB.)

' ..The ' match \ between 1 Wellington ■' aiid .Brougham' Hill completed'the shield contestlast Saturday, and, as anticipated/ resulted in; awin for, Wellington ; by. 9. sets '.to '4.• Most -of _,the. games. -were very ..closely, contested, four advantage, sets ; were' .won by; Wellington. This club has'nbw -Avon -the .shield ;a- .match. Fisher and 'SwanaCoiL pjjft.vvery ; close, . win-' - ning game and game -until B'all, .whoii'the former . took: the next; two . games and-;s6t 10—8. Fisher's play was particularly brilliant .at ' times. , repeatedly, -ap•peared, to' have.' him " completely .beaten 'with' well-pjaced drives, ■ but :Fisher, with' aston'ishing agility 1 raced across'court and, to tho gonor&l astonishment of everyone, saved tho ace—in fact, on more than one occasion his "save" was a. winning. shot. Peacock was not oxtended at all»by Laishley, who has not been seen to advantage this season.'- Brov/n----did not play his' usual, dashing ' game;- and had to suffer 'defeat''fromYoung, who played /his...,steady, game,' placing' 1 well \aii'd :,never Jailing to take , advantage '.of.' 'any' opening' "iado by his opponent: • Wilson had ' Hunter 1 going from, the; start, and soon rah' the score .up 6—2i-. The former player kcpt ; a .splendid length ion'.his drives, : ;and; gaye/:his opponent very. few opportunities ,at. thj." net; finally' ho took-the Mrs.'Goldio played'a good game in her' siriglo against Miss Ward, assuming the lead at.4—2. mado a big bid .for the next game, which eventually was taken by' Miss AVard, who* also, took tho next, .niaking "the score"4 all. "Games ran oven until 6 all, when the, Wellington lady with somo fine length ■„ drives and . crosscourt shots took the set B—6. - MisS Morgan started well against 'Miss Travel's in - the second single, and the games were 2-all, but by this time the Wellington lady had found her opponent's weak spot, for. she" drove hard . and. . persistently at . Mi?s Morgan's back-hand, with., the result -that - she. took the .next five,'games 'in. succession; and sit. 7—2. Tho. first,, men's double, ' Fisher .' and-. Peacock v. Laishley' and Swaristou, was/a ■fine exhibition of tennis, Fisher and Swanston; again showing:. their, powers; of .volleying and quick 'exchange of the ball in 'elosd. quarters. '. The-, set went to Wellington 10—8. . Quinnell, and H; Howe, playing for the . first', time. together,; did: well to .defeat Jackson .| and , Green. The last-mentioned' player, on his play, -hardly justified his inclusion in a 'senior'team. , 'Jackson : played well, .and his .swinging back-hand drive'frequenly scored outright. Young and Hunter, on the day,- wero just too good for Brown and Wilson. ' Brown accurate, . although, he was putting plenty of pace.into his shots, 'and ;hit. a great many out.' His partner did his share, of. the ivork, but the Brougham Hill pair, by steadiness won 9—7. Mesdames -Goldio and Bell took .'the.,-lead 4—2 from/Mrs. Hickson and Miss Ward, but tho latter pair evened and .made the score 5 all.' The next two games, bothadvantage, : were ' very keenly fought for, but were won by Wellington.. Both the Brougham Hill ladies ! played at •, the not with success, whilst ' Mrs. y Hickson's lefthand, cuts seemed harder vj negotiate than her sister's hard straight-out drives.. These two-pairs met in.a previous round, but on •that occasion , tho Brougham Hill pair were unable to tako one.game • from their oppo-' nents. The'second ladies' double ran into a long/9-7 set, in favour of Wellington.' Misses Travers and Williams seemed quito put off by the .soft'play of their opponents;and after swiping them for a while, started to pop the .balls back; with .the above remarkable result. Howe and Mrs. Howe had an easy witi from Green and Mrs. Hickson. was quite off, positively missing tho ball altogether at times. His'partner, who had. played well at first, seemed :to lose heart, and Howe, running'in to the net oil ovory possible occasion, carried off tho set " 2■ Quinnell and Mrs. Bell.maclo a good stand agiinst. Jackson arid Miss Williams, but lack of combination spoiled what otherwise would make a strong' pair. Quinnell, in taking some of his partner's-balls, iliado an opening for Jackson, who was over on the alert to make a winning shot. 1 Pennant—Brougham Hill A v. Brougham Hill B resulted in a win, 5 sets to 2, in favour of the A team. Hurley .was not playing up to form, and was beaten by Edwards, a young player, who has improved since tho beginning of the season. .Miss Dempsey just defeated Miss Webb 7—"6. The ..winner played a steady game, whilst lior opponent, hitting hard, made some very fine witining shots, but maqy of her drive's netted or just passed the hack line. Misses Webb and Saxon put-up the second win for tlie B team by defeating Misses Dempsey and Farmer 7—5.

'Victoria Collego A defeated Victoria College B by 4 sets to 3. Taylor and-Griffiths had the closest' match. Several of tho games were advantage/ and Griffiths on Lis

service just managed to got tho gamo which gave sot at 9—B. Missos Gibbs. and Still had an even go, tho former just' winning

Racquets.—Victoria Collego defaulted both A and B matches to Brougham Hi]l. Kilbirnio is keeping well up to tho mirk, and won' 6 sets to 1 from Muritai._ Sanson played up well for tho losing club, and just pulled his single off 9—B from Mitchcn. By' tho way, what has become of tho first teams Muritai put in tho field. This is one of tho clubs that has become .weaker instead of stronger towards the close of the season.

Brougham Hill has been successful in winning the junior cup and pennant, and although thero are still'three matches to bo played, it is impossjble for them to lose tho racquet.' . - Entry forms are already out for the Brougham Hill Eastor tournament, ' .liid players 'are beginning to pair off. This meeting will bo sure to attract most of tho best local players, as it will-be their last chancd to havo a go at their past victors, and many will; bo eager to demonstrate that their wins already - notched have been merited. • /' / . ' ■ \ The Easter tournament always ; attracts the best of players from Taranaki, and as tho prizes offered are considerably above the average, the. entries should be large from outlying districts. The entry form should make an interesting souvenir. It is in tho , form of an enlarged post-card, ' being very simply and attractively arranged, and should be a fine/ advertisement-for the nieeting.. The , Handicap' Committee is composed of Messrs. Laishley, Redward, and Wilson, who have always given Competitors every satisfaction. Entries close with tho lion, sec., Mr. Lawrence, at 53, Aurora Terrace, on April 4.. :