BADMINTON

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20253, 23 July 1937, Page 10

BADMINTON

GAME IN WAIKATO. WISDEN CUP MATCH. INTER-CLUB PLAY. The first round of the Waikato Interclub badminton competitions has been completed and the second round, in some cases, has already been commenced. In the A grade series tlie only team that has not yet been defeated is St. Mark’s, Te Aroha. This strong team beat Hamilton by 7 games to 5 and West End by 8 games to 4; while Hamilton had the measure of West End by 11 games to 1. The results of the second round will be full of interest, as with all teams training well and improving all the time there are liable to be some upsets. In the B grade there are so many teams that the competition has been divided into two grades, an eastern and western zone. In the eastern zone St. Mark’s, Te Aroha, are the undefeated team, while In the western zone Hamilton have yet to be beaten. In the G grade competition the new club at Waihou is doing very well and is in the lead as present.

The five courts at the Bledisloe Hall are in perfect condition and they are filled eoch night that play is available. All participants, and especially visitors, are lavish In their praise of the surface, and it seems likely that it will not be long before the New Zealand championships are played here. This year the Dominion titles will be competed for at Dunedin, this being the first time that the fixture has been held in the South Island. The game is increasing in popularity every week in the south and the holding of the championships there should help the game further. The championships this year will be played from September 8 to September 11. Representative Match. Next Saturday the Waikato team will play the Auckland representatives in the Bledisloe Hall, Hamilton, for the Wisden Cup. Tills trophy is the emblem of interprovincial supremacy in the Dominion, and it will be Waikato’s second game for the oup. Last year they were beaten by Auckland, but they are expected to put up a much better showing this year. The Waikato players have the advantage of playing under ideal conditions in Bledisloe Hall, and although Auckland are very strong and will be sending their best team down it must be taken into consideration that in Hamilton there are the present New Zealand ladies’ champion, an ex-New Zealand men’s champion, and the ex-holders of the New Zealand doubles title. The superiority of Waikato over Taranaki badminton was again demonstrated at New Plymouth on July 10, when teams from each district took part in the annual inter-association fixture. Taranaki lost the match, but did better than last year. Waikato won 20 gomes, 59 sets, and 1010 aces, md Taranaki 12 games, 29 sets, and 820 aces. Last, year Taranaki won only two out of 2.4 games, and none the year before. Two men’s doubles games were not finished this year. Waikato won six of Iho eight men’s singles, five women’s singles, five men’s doubles, six women’s doubles, and four combined doubles. H. Fow Defeated. Interest chiefly centred on the encounter between H. Fow, Auckland provincial champion and a former Dominion singles title-holder, and the Taranaki first string, J. Spedding, who last year defeated Fow, 15—8, 10— 15, 15 —10. Spedding experienced no difficulty in repeating his performance, defeating the Hamilton player hy two straight sets, 15—4, 15—2. Though he played as energetically as usual, Fow seemed to have lost some of his sparkle, perhaps because of the lons trip he had made the same day. Ho fought gamely, however, and conceded no points without a struggle, making excellent, recoveries from .ill over the court. Spedding was at, the top of his form and played a forceful and aggressive game throughout. He kept his opponent on the run and covered the court well, handling all capably. Taranaki was not so fortunate in the women’s singles, Miss M. Edmondson, Waikato’s top woman player and presenl Dominion singles champion, proving tm) good for Miss Cornish, who V. -d*fe it lin In - '" straight sets, l l - -2, I I Miss Edmondson had a definite advantage through her superiority at Iho net, and In her coverage of the court, forcing her opponent into manv weak shots. Miss Edmondson won*the first set easily from 2-all, but in the second Miss Cornish played more steadily and gained a 3—i load through Miss Edmondson smashing several times Into llio net. The Waikato player, however, had the advantage from B—s onward. The feature of the meeting was the (.Continued la previous column.)