A Great Surprise

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 17, 8 November 1929, Page 7

A Great Surprise

2¥A Wrestling Broadcast DURING the evening of Labour Day listeners to 2YA received a pleasant surprise in the form of a broadcast description of the wrestling match staged at the Town Hall, Wellington. The bout was between Clarence Eklund, light-heavy-weight champion of the world, and Walter Johannsen, similay champion of Finland, and was deseribed in a vivid and concise manner _by Mr. Drummond, the well-known announcer of 2YA. Before the commencement of this contest, a description of the last amateur preliminary bout was given. This was ‘between two eight-year-old twin bro‘thers, who were, according to the ‘amused announcer, as "slippery as two eels," Their exhibition was evidently very popular with the crowd present, as at the termination of the contests the participants were showered with coins in such profusion that the twins had great difficulty in accommodating them all. Prior to the commencement of the professional match, Johannsen spoke a few words into the microphone to the effect that he was feeling very fit and hoped to win. Shortly after, the gong sounded, and the bout commenced. The yunning commentary on the match was excellent, every hold being described in ‘such a way that listeners. who knew ,nothing of the technicalities of wrestling (of which there are not a few) -eould quite easily follow the bout. A very close and exciting contest resulted in a win for Eklund by a very narrow margin. Twice during the final round the -transmission ceased for a minute or so owing to the blowing out of a fuse. This was rather unfortunate, as the contestants had both secured falls during the preceding rounds, and _ they were each striving desperately to gain ~ the decision before the final gong sounded. "oe Apart from this incident, however, the broadcast was a very successful one; and it is to be hoped that the ‘contest to be staged at the Town Hall in the near future between Farmer Vance and Tom Alley will be similarly broadcast,