WILDING SHIELD

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 95, 16 January 1935, Page 14

WILDING SHIELD

Challenge For Tennis Supremacy HISTORY OF THE TROPHY This year’s challenge by the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association marks a further step in the history of the Wilding Shield competition. When originally set up in 1921, New Zealand was divided into provincial “zones,” -which meant that, the only’ provinces which had any chance of success were Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington. This, combined with the fact that there were no suitable courts in Wellington, and practically no tennis public, made the competition of little interest. In 1926, however, the Miramar courts were in existence, but the tennis public was still lacking and, although the shield has been almost continuously it) Wellington sinde then, the “gates” were small. A few years ago the New Zealand association decided to alter the rules, and instead of allowing the challenge to be made at any time, made it obligatory to play the matches immediately’ preceding the New Zealand championships. This had the advantage of having all the main players at one city, but a corresponding disadvantage was that to play two or three strenuous matches in quick succession (Wellington players last year had to play Auckland on Friday and Saturday, Canterbury on Monday and Tuesday, ami then go straight on with five days of championships), was too strenuous for the .players. Also the match, Wellington v. Auckland, was played at Christchurch, and little interest was aroused. The N.Z.L.T-A. therefore decided last year that the old system of independent challenge was better, so the matches to be played at Miramar on Friday and Saturday are the first under the new rules. A minor alteration in the rules is that the smaller associations are “grouped.” This should enable a larger number of challenges to be issued, and as a matter of fact the 'Wellington women last season had to withstand a challenge from the ladies of Wanganui-Manawatu-Taranaki. Davis Cup of New Zealand. The Wilding Shield has been called the Davis Cup of New Zealand, but although it is the means of the cream of the Dominion’s tennis talent meeting, the rules are different. In the Davis Cup there are four singles matches and one doubles, an odd number of games, so that a decisive result must always eventuate. Also if a country has some players who ate good in. doubles, but comparatively weak in singles, they may play in the former only. Thus a Davis Cup team may consist of from two to four players, for example, the famous four musketeers of France played Cochet and Laeoste in the singles (two each), and Brugnon and Borotra in the doubles. In the Wilding Shield contest each team must consist of four players, and each player must play two singleg and two doubles, thus giving 12 matches. Last year against Canterbury, Wellington on the first day won -four of the six games played, and the result seemed a foregone conclusion, as Malfroy was considered certain to beat Angas. Two other matches would therefore have made the custody of the shield certain, but on the final day of the six matches, Wellington lost four, and the issue was in doubt till the' last match. If Canterbury had beaten Wellington in straight sets in this doubles the fate of the shield would have rested on the games won. but fortunately Malfroy and Ferkins got one set, and although they lost the match the shield remained in the North Island. There have been many oher famous struggles for the trophy, one of the most memorable being at Wellington in 1931 when in a critical match A. L. France was down 0-5 in the third set against T. W. Patterson, of Canterbury. The Wellington supporters thought that they saw the game slipping away as the seore ! gradually mounted, but at 0-5 France dug his toes in and pulled the score up to 5-all. Twice after this Patterson got games, but France ran out the winner. 9-7. The Shield Described. The shield is of oak. three feet in diameter, with the words “Anthony Wilding Memorial Challenge Shield” engraved on a silver centre. On small silver shields round the circumference are engraved the winning teams. SiiA-e the inception of the contests in 1921-22 it has been won six times by Wellington, five times by Canterbury and twice by Auckland, and it has always been productive of the highest grade tennis, inclusion in the team being considered one of the highest honours the province can bestow. Of the eight players who will determine the residence of the coveted shield this week six are ranked in the first ten in New Zealand, the o r der being (if one excludes Andrews and Malfroy, who are now in England) : France 1. Angas 2, Ferkins 4. Barnett 5. Rhodes-Williams 6. Dymond 8. To acknowledge to some extent the debt which the province owes to its .representative players, the association has ordered a memorial badge to be struck and all representatives will be presented with one before the matches. These badges will not be retrospective beyond last year’s team, but will be presented to all future representatives. The badge is in silver with the monogram W L.T.A. subscribed with the words “Wilding Shield” on. a scroll in silver with dark blue enamel ground. To this will be affixed a ribbon in the association’s colours, dark blue, light blue, white and orange. To this ribbon will be pinned the "date bars” showing the years of representation in silver on a dark blue "round.