LAWN TENNIS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 31, 6 February 1932, Page 19

LAWN TENNIS

AUSTRALIAN LADIES' TEAM

MATCHES IN WELLINGTON

Until an explanation was offered, at least one member at the quarterly meeting of the Council of the Wellington Lawn Tennis Association last night felt ' that the local association had been slighted by the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association in connection with the Australian ladies' tennis tour. The matter arose out o£ a paragraph in the quarterly report submitted by the Management Committee, which stated that an offer had been received from the New Zealand Association to play ; a:inatch with the Australian ladies' team on 12th and 13th February. The committee did not consider that the association would be justified in accepting the terms laid down, and accordingly it had been arranged that the match should be run by the New Zealand Association, which would, if-the match resulted in a profit, make a grant to the Wellington Association for the use of the grounds. My. W. T. Harbison said that it was rather unfortunate that Wellington should have been iv the position of being ignored by the New Zealand Association. It was pleasing to see that a match was to be played, and it was certainly better to have a match late in the season than none at all, but i£ there was to be any difficulty or slighting of the Wellington Association he thought a protest should be entered. The chairman (Mr. G. G. Swinburne) said that at a meeting on 14th December f? , a tetter was received from the New Zealand Association offering the Wellington Association a match on 12th and 13th February. That was the first intimation the Association had. The New Zealand Association had asked for a guarantee o£ £25, and the Management Committee had. replied taking exception, owing to the fact that the association had not previously been approached. It did not feel justified in accepting the offer on account of Hie fact that the Australian : team would have competed all over the Do* mmion before playing in Wellington and as a result it thought that interest in the my in Wellington would have «waved. .Mr. 8,.- Baigent said that the association was not offered a match until a very late date, and it would take place practically at the end of the- tour. He also pointed out that as Wellington players were talcing part in matches with the Australian team throughout New Zealand, interest would not be the same by the time the team arrived here ' , Jfr- 0. G. 'White, a member of **?s Management Committee of the said that the impression might have been , gained that the Wellington Association had been slighted-. He assured members that he would have been the first to object had there been any slighting of the association or of its players, They must realise that a tour such as the present one took a great deal of arranging—championship dates had to be considered. The New Zealand ' Association could only treat each association in the same way. The Wellington Associa-tion-was asked to supply a guarantee similar to the other associations, and no objection was made to the amount by Carfterbury or Auckland. If it had put on a match here without asking the association for a guarantee there would have been controversy iby other delegates to the New Zealand body. It was not the intention of the New Zealand Association to slight the Wellington Association. Mr. Harbison said he thought that the •New Zealand Association might reasonably have made an-offer to the local association earlier than it did. He was quite satisfied, however, that no slighting was intended, and that any delay in making an oiler was unavoidable. ANNUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. The quarterly report of the Management Committee of the Wellington Asso-ciation-stated that owing to the fact that the New Zealand championships commenced on 25th January, it was deemed advisable to alter the date of the annual championships from 21st January to 30th. December. The' championships wf e Played- in three grades, and- this resulted in an increase in the number of entries. The committee was of the opinion, however, that the method adopted was not satisfactory, and it was possible that next year a Management Committee would be recommended to make some alterations. It was. also reported that the committee had decided this year to inaugurate the system of handicapping by sixth's instead of on the points system. It was considered that the new system was a fairer one and resulted in a better class of tennis. - SUSPENDED PLAYERS. As a result of certain members of affiliated^ clubs having taken part in a tournament organised by an unaffiliated body and not authorised by the New Zealand Association the Management, Committee of the Wellington Association decided at a recent meeting to suspend the nlavers concerned, and it was decided at the meeting last-night that the names of the players should be published. Mr. P. Williams, whose action in managing a tournament was defined aB taking P *arl m-,}h nY as susPended until the.end of the 1933-34 season. Miss M. Williams, who.was described as a ranked player was suspended until the end of the 1932-33 season, and two other players, Messrs ; T and F. Darroch, were suspended for one" month.