~ TABLE TENNIS- NEW~

Published on the 1st of- each month, October to May inclusive. Posta I subscriptions £1 for eight issues post free. Advertisements: Derek R. Tremayne, General Secretary, E.T.T.A., 26-29 Park Crescent, london. W1 N 4HA. 'Phone 01-580 6312 Circulafon: North - David R. Wolstencroft, 11 Aireworth Street, Wingates, Westhoughtonl' Lanes. ~Phone: Westhoughton 2021 South - Ron Smith, Greenacres, Pinchington lane, Newbury, Berks. 'Phone: Newbury 3488 Distribution: Mrs. E. D. Yates, 43 Knowsley Road, Smithills, Bolton, lanes. BL1 6JH 'Phone: Bolton 42223. Editorial: George R. Yates, 43 Knowsley Road, Smithills, Bolton, lanes. Bl1 6JH 'Phone Bolton 42223 (h) 061-228 2141 Ext: 2698 (b).

Gone are the days

WITH all due respect to Lesley Radford, who ,performed so cred i'· tably in the English Clos,ed at Crystal Palace, it is still a sad re­flectio,n on the younger female generation that from within the,ir ranks a challenger o,f real sUbstance has yet to, emerge.

Granted we get the sho'ck win no'w and then, but there is no co,ntinuity of high performa'nce and certainly the gap left by Mary Wright remains just as vacant now as the day she retired.

Our two established stars, Karenza Mathews and Jill Hammersley, need the pressure of being made to fight for their places and until such a state of affairs exists then this season's medio'crity of achievement will be our zenith in the international field.

Gone are the days when we could count on a women's singles win in a European League match, as witness our three losses to date against Federal Germany (Marta Hejma), Sweden (Birgit'ta Radberg) and the Soviet Union (Zoya Rudnova)-not to mentio'n two, defeats out of three in mixed doubles engagements.

Surely the tide must turn against France, in Troyes, now on February 23, for releg,ation from the first divisio'n of the European League would be a bitte,r pill to swallow.

ENGLISH TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION

Patron: Her Majesty the Queen

President: A. K. Vint, D.B.E.

Life,. Vice-President:

Han. Ivor Montagu

Chairman: C. M. Wyles Deputy Chairman: G. R. Yates

Hon. Treasurer: T. Blunn Management Committee:

I. R. Crickmer, M. Goldstein, l. Hoffman and K. Watts

Page 2

I

GEORGE R. YATES reports on

The Internotionol front SOUTH AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Former Bolton SSS League player, Mike Symonds, who once represented both Lancashire and Y orkshire, as well as England, retained his men's singles title in the South African Table Tennis Union championships when playing in the colours of Western p'rovince in the Feather Ma,rket Hall, P'ort Elizabeth.

His final opponent was John Man­dilas (Transvaal) who, in 1969, brought off a magnificent victory against Symonds but, on this most recent occasion, was beaten 12, 11, -16, 16 for the former Lancastrian, from Warrington, to mount the winners dais for the third time in four years.

Again in the mixed doubles, Symonds, and his wife Dalmae, retained their title with final victory over Henri Nowacki (Transvaal) and Val Barber (Eastern P'rovince) with scores of 23, 7, -19, 18.

Other results were:­

Women's Singles: Barbara Jaye (Western Province) bt Joyce White (Transvaal) 18, 14, 19.

Men's Doubles: Ton.y EconomeUis (Transvaal)/Mandilas bt Graham BoothjLes Samowitz (Transvaal) 9, 13, 21.

Women's Doubles: Hes\ter Botha (Western Transvaal)/White bt Jaye/Lulu Levine (Western P'rO­vince) 17, 8, -8, 18.

The Victor Barna Award for 1971 was presented by Mr. Brian Lidgey of Dunlop Sports to Glen Theunissen, the Free State Chairman. Glen has been involved in table tennis for close on 20 years and has been the driving force in F'ree State table tennis.

In the subsequent Inter-Provincial Tournament, Western P'rovince "A", with both Symonds and Barbara J aye in splendid form, were worthy cham­pions with Transvaal IIA" the runners-up.

At the S.A.T.T U. Annual General Meeting, also held in P'ort Elizabeth, the first pleasant duty was to elect the popular Bill Harris of Transvaal, as both a Life Member and Vice­President of the Union.

The re-election of Boris Lipow as Chairman was a formality, other office bearers being:- Vice-Chairman-T. Shnaps. Secretary - S. Haller. Treasurer-K. Sheppard.

SOUTH AF'RICAN RANKINGS Men:

1. M. Symonds, 2. J. Mandilas, 3. Denys van der Westhuyzen (Western P'rovince), 4. O'scar Marino (T'rans­vaal), 5. David Ticktin (Western Province), 6. H. Nowacki, 7. Leon Louw (Western Province) and 8. Terry Martin (Natal).

Wom,en: 1. Barbara Jaye, 2. Val Barber,

3. Linda Kruger (Northern Trans­vaal), 4. Joyce White, 5. Marta Stretton (Eastern Transvaal), 6. Fay Ginsberg (Transvaal), 7. Pam Schouten (Eastern P'rovince) and 8. Lulu Levine.

Mike Symonds (centr'e) is here pictured with his forme'r Bolton team· mates, Georg:e Livesey (left)-now in Australia-and Bryn Farnworth.

'Photo by courtesy of

Bolton Evening News.

EUROPE CLUB CUP

English club champions, O'fmesby, came back from a 0-2 deficit to oust Hungarian holders, Budapesti Spar­ticus, in the Europe Club Cup com­petition, before a 200 plus crowd on Teesside, on Jan. 19, the T'eessiders winning 5-3.

Ormesby were much indebted to Trevor Taylor, who, after going down to Lazlo Pignitsky in the opening set, subsequently accounted for Istvan J onyer. But the real hero was Denis Neale who won all his three sets and, on each occasion at a crucial stage. Scores:­

T. Taylor lost to Pignitsky -19, -18; N. Jarvis lost to Jonyer -9, -14; D. Neale bt S. Marosffy 9, 10; Taylor bt Jonyer -12, 18, 14; Neale bt Pig­nitsky 20, 16; Jarvis lost to Marosffy 15, -10, -18; Neale bt Jonyer -20, 16, 21; Taylor bt Marosffy 11, 18.

In the semi-final of this European knock-out competition, O'rmesby have been again drawn at home, to Yugo­slavia's 01impija clUb, likely to be spearheaded by Istvan Korpa. It is hoped to play the match around the time of the Teesside 3-Star Open on Feb. 19/20.

EUROPEAN LEAGUE O'ther than England's match

against the U.S.S.R. (reported else­where) the only other results received are both fron1 the Second Division viz: ­

Belgium 5, Scotland 2

Netherlands 5, Switzerland 2

Resultant table:­

P W L F APts Netherlands 4 4 0 21 7 4 Denmark 2 2 0 10 4 2 Scotland 4 2 2 13 15 2 Austria 1 1 0 6 1 1 Belgiurn 2 1 1 6 8 1 Switzerland 4 1 3 11 17 1 Greece Ireland

2 3

0 2° 3 6 4

8 17

0 0

NEW ZEALAND R,ANKINGS Men.:

1. J. R. Morris, 2. B. A. Foster, 3. G. B. Murphy, 4. A. R. Tomlinson, 5. R. E. Lee, 6. T. J. O"Carroll, 7. Loke Sim Wong, 8. Ling Nan Ming, 9. W. N. Evans and 10. Vic Chun Kwing.

Womeni: 1. Y. M. F'ogarty, 2. A. D. Stone­

street, 3. N. J. Houlihan, 4. K. A. Fraser, 5. J. F. Boswell, 6. D'. L. Wade, 7. J. E. Brown, 8. G. M. Kemp, 9. C. M. Atchison and 10. T. May. YELLO,W BALLS

The LT.T.F. Council has accepted the recommendation of the Equipment Committee that the following brands of yellow balls are approved for the period ending April 1973:- Comet: Halex: Hanno: Imperial: Schildkroet. WHIT'E B,AL,LS

In addition to the Balls already approved, the Halex and Imperial white balls have also been approved for the period ending April 1973.

COMITE D'U FAIR PLAY Acts remarkable for fair play during

the year 1971 should be communi­cated, with full details of the occur­rance to:- Comite International de trophees d u F'air Play Pierre de Coubertin, c/o L. Meunier, 16 Rue Peron, 78 Croissy-sur-Seine, France.

PROPAGAND~

Sportfilm Studio announces the availability of a new instructional film by leading Hungarian players. The film is a 16mm. black and white with spoken comm~ntary. It may b~ obtained at a cost of $150 per copy from-Hungarofilm, BUdapest V., Bathory u.10, Hungary.

SCOTTISH AFFAIRS Cheshire's Mike Johns was the

winner of the Edinburgll~Op~n men'~ singles '€'vent on Sunday, Jan. ,16. -In

.,t!?-e women's singles, Scotland's Elaine Smith turnea the tables on Ireland's Ky:r:a Stew~rt. ,New face in the juni6r boys' event was that of C. Mathew of Aberdeen, a lad with a bright future. Results: .

M.. S.: s-f: . M. Johns (Ches.) bt P. Forker (Scot.)

8, 14; E. Sutherland (Scot.) bt N. Eckers­

ley (Ches.) 12, 14. Final: Johns bt Sutherland 14, 16. W.S.: E. Sm,ith bt K. Stewart 16, 16. M.D.: Forker/Sutherland bt J. Haw­

kins/R. Kerr 12, -19, 19. W.D.: C. Me'Beath/Smith bt K.

Stewart/B. Stewart 10, 18. X.D.: Forke:r/K. Ste'wart bt Suther­

land/McBeath -22, 21, 20. J.B.: B. John.s (Ches.) bt C. Mathew

19, 15. J.G.: Smith bt B. Stewart 9, 10. V.S.: E. Dunbar bt N. Davidson -17,

23, 18.

~bituar!,

the Japan Table Tennis· Asso­ciation with the means to travel extensive,ly and to be hosts to the World Champion­ships, providing an organisa,· tion that showed in eve,ry 'lacet the hand of a man who was at the bottom of every decision. Yet, unde,r his instruction, Japanese organiseirs co-op­erated with the I.T.T.F. in its every requireme,nt.

Although only Deputy Presi­dent of the I.T.T.F. since April, he had already shewn a shrewd grasp of our inter­national proble,ms. His initia­tive had smoothed the way for the Chinese to make the,ir return in Nagoya after six years absence, and the Chinese and the Japanese came closer together during his reign.

KOJI GOTO

A man of his accomplish­ments had to be ambitious, even ruthless. He knew what he wanted and went for it. He and his well known entourage of secretaries and interpreters were an almost 'le'arsome sight, and Asian table tenn~s knew the strength of this man. But, he was prepared to be guided by those with more experience. Despite his IIPowe·r Game" demeanour, Goto, even at 65, was a play­boy.

He gave innumerable parties at Geisha hou 3es, parties at which the almost 'forbidd~ng

exterior dissolved into boyish playfulness. He loved to join in the Geisha music, Gxpertly playing the tympani, or singing plaintive, simple folk songs.

Each party ended suddenly, abruptly, as if he had said "You've'seen enough of me in

Koji Goto was a formidable man, powe'rfully built, stern faced. Paradoxically, his limp and the strong stick he used, onIy added to the impression of strength. Yet the hardness of his face would dissolve, into an almost impish grLn, and he knew how to enjoy his leisure moments as only the busiest of men can do.

iHe was a wealthy landowner who built ,a school when the Japanese Government des­perately needed help in its reconstruction programme. Soon high schools and now a huge university outside Nagoya became part of the Goto empire. The Aichi Stadium, where the last World Cham­pionships were staged belonged to him.

It costs about £1,000 to belong to a Golf Club in Japan. He OWNS a beauti ­fully situated one, and one' of my most treasured memories is of him bowling sereneily along the fairway in his electric buggey, playing calmly to his 18 handicap, while Ranga Ramanujan and I hacked our way from tree to trele. He was hugely delighted at the fact that television cameras, were adding to our discomfo·rt.

We have never had a real business tyco,on in table tennis. Though he made them work for it, Koji Goto endowed

that mood". And so back ~o

Koji Goto, the strong one.

At home, his charming wife and family saw him different~y

again; for all his strength, a man to be looked after as he sat proudly amongst the presents he had rece:ved 'from all corners of the earth.

They have lost, simply, IIThe~r Man". We have lost a new friend, a potential powe·y in our world, a SOUTce of muni­ficence in the interests of tab~e tennis. '

H. ROY EVANS, President I.T.T.F.

International Club

RUBBER BAT BONANZA AT BARNET

The big event for this season was the first ever tHard Rubber Ba t Open' held at the Barnet T.T. Centre on Sunday, Jan. 9.

Denis Neale sho,;ved up as a player who can play with any type of bat, or almost any, as he nearly came unstuck against local player Joe Brandez. After that he used one of the bats on loan from Dunlop Sports and proceeded to execute Laurie Landry, John Wise and, in the final, Stan J acobson.

P'auiine Plddock made a welcome Womlen's Sin:gles: Semi-finals': return to the tournament scene and p. P'IDDO'CK (Kent) bt B. Bird won the women's singles in great (Kent) -13, 11, 12; style causing one to ponder as to J. REDFEARN (Middx.) bt J. R.whether she had always played with

Williams (Bucks.) 15, 19.a rubber bat. Laurie Landry and Betty Bird turned the clock back 13 Fin;al: years to win the mixed, an event they PID'DOCK bt Redfearn 14, 13. used to win in Open tournaments

Mixed Doubles: Semi-finals:from 1958-1961. LAND'RY/BIRD bt Kirby/Redfearn

ttLes" Haslam, Tony Piddock, Len -13, 8, 14;Adams and Ernie Bubly were some A.•PTD'DOCK (Kent)/PTD'DOCK btof the internationals, past and present, Adams/B. Andrews (Herts.) -19,who also enjoyed some real table 12, 11.tennis.

Final: The entry for the men's singles was L,ANDRY/BIRD bt Piddock/Piddock46 and 9 in the women's singles and -11, 9, 15.

mixed. The International Club of England have donated the Richard The Annual General Meeting of the Bergmann Memorial Trophy for the Club will be held at Brighton during men's singles event of the Rubber the English Open on Mar. 4/72. Ba.t Open. There to make the pre­sentation was the club's P'resident, Hon. Ivor Montagu.

Results: ­ Cover Picture Men's Sinlgles:: Quarter-finals:

Trevor Taylor (Essex) and 14­D. Neale (Yorks.) bt L. Landry (Middx.) 12, 15; years-old David Alderson, the sur·

J. Wise (Gloucs.) bt O. Haslam pr:se men's singles finalist, from (Middx.) -20, 12, 14;

Ormesby, Yo'rkshire. In seventeieinS. Jacobson (Middx.) bt V. Adams (Gloucs.) -17, 20, 21; devas,tating minutes at Crystal

T. Kirby (Surrey) bt L. Adams Palace, Taylor disposed of his(Middx.) 11, 19.

youth'fu I o,pponent 21-7, 21-12,Semli·finals: 21-7, to become the new EnglishNEALE bt Wise 11, 14; JACO'BSO'N

bt Kirby 23, 20. Closed men's singles champion in Final: succession to' Cheste'r Barnes, his NEALE bt Jacobson 12, 16. Essex county colleague.

1111'$ T.lJle Tennis • • • 11'$ AlEC 8R(J(J1(

(Over 20 years SERVICE to the players)

TABLE TENNIS SHIRTS The best and most competitive. Royal - Green - Navy - Red. Small, Medium, Large and Boys.

£1.38 each, plus postage

PENHOt.DER BATS Genuine Japanese

BAllS World Championship, Nittaku *; **; ***;

RUBBER Finest Japanese Official; R. or Normal. 38p Continental pip rubber 13p a piece

BATS Stiga-Butterfly-Cor du Buy-Barna etc.

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Page 3 • -y~ - ­

Winston Churchill Travelling FelloJvship Award

To

Mr. Koji interes<ting

Japan in search of knowledge

GOfto points out an fe:ature to our world­

travelling correspondent Alan Hydes of Yorkshire COWlty and England intemlational fame.

What a shock, what a delight, a chance of a lifetime. Three months in Japan as a Winston Churchill Fellow to study and experience the coaching and playing techniques that produce world champions at Table Tennis.

Fronl Barnsley, in the South York­shire coalfield, to T'okyo via Singa­pore and Hong Kong was an immense change in 36 hours, even in our jet age. An unscheduled delay in Hong Kong caused my arrival in Tokyo to be six hours late, so I made my own hotel arrangements for the night and travelled by the Bullet Train­reputedly the fastest in the world­to Nagoya, about 170 miles distant.

On arrival my mind went back to April, 1971, and my first visit to this city as a member of England's Sway­thling Cup team for the 31st World Table Tennis Championships. In Nagoya, I stayed at Aichi Kogyo College as a guest of Mr. Koji Goto, the millionaire P'resident of the Japanese Table Tennis Association, who gave JPe every help and encouragement throughout my stay in his country.

Now to business-my raison d'etre. My daily routine started at 07.00 with a thirty minute run, broken by exer­cises, around the nearby baseball park. This was followed by a break­fast of rice and raw egg, eaten with chopsticks and no little difficulty. But familiarity and hunger soon

Page 4

by Alan Hydes

encouraged me to improve my eating technique.

The daily practice was under the expert supervision of Mr. Noda who, incidentally, was coach to Nobuhiko Hasegawa, the 1967 world champion and current No. 1 player in Japan.

P'lay was conducted on 16 tables with 40 student players participating. The schedule was arranged to give each player a maximum of six hours, and a minimurn of four, on the table.

ERADICATIO'N Immediately prior to play, the

coach points out to the players their particular trouble spots and designs play to eradicate these weaknesses. The attention to detail was absolute on the part of both player and coach, therefore paving the way for each individual to develop his skill to its ultimate.

Special attention was paid to the service and return of service in order to win the point as quickly as pos­sible. You would find players practis­ing one type of service and one par­ticular return for as long as fifty minutes in an hour.

This type of application produces the confidence synonymous with world class players, and undoubtedly it is this specialised practice that gives solidarity at the most vital stages of a game.

Little wonder we witness the Japanese achieve victory so often in close games. While the opponent worries, the Japanese play their strokes with the confidence one gains after such specialised practice.

ANALYSIS

Most impressive is the way in which the Japanese can take apart table tennis, and analyse it. In this way, the coach and pupil work indust­riously for many hours, to improve their strokes and recovery.

Frequently, top players would stand in front of a full length mirror, toiling and sweating in an attempt to improve their strokes and recovery.

Infinite attention is devoted to each stroke and with the help of the mirror, players would construct imaginative games. Having tested the validity of this exercise, I found it a sure way of attaining a vivid picture in one's mind of the exact position and angle of stroke and body.

Glften a coach would spend two hours (a third of the day's play) on one aspect of a player's game. F'or example, if it was the smash or loop drive, then with the aid of a basket filled with 100 balls, the coach would inspect the action of the player as he slogged his way through the basketful, which were fed to him by an enthusiastic helper.

UNFAIR On completion., bOlth coach and

pla.yer dis/cuss the difficultie's, and the' proc.es'S is repeated, nine more times., giving a total of 1,000!

This type of exercise was not in the least haphazard, but done with much thought and, invariably, the improvement was forthcoming.

Clearly, to recount all that was done during my visits to Tokyo, Nagoya and Kyoto - to name but three places-would occupy far too much space in this magazine, the experiences being far reaching and numerous.

Moreover, to attempt to go into intricate detail of the unique system practice the Japanese employ, would be unfair to them, lelss I did it with perfect detail and precision.

However, I do advocate a passing thought. And that is, if only we in England could assist our top players in developing to the full their wonderful potential, by creating regular and concentrated practice, rather than the spasmodic play they presently endure, I am convinced England's future in search of world honours could become a reality.

Admittedly time is rendering itself to improvement, but this applies to other countries too, and should they presently lead, I suggest our pace be set not only to diminish the lead but to irrecoverably outstrip them.

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DERBYSHIRE NOTES by Walter Reeves

BREAKTHRO'UGH FOR MANDY Highlight of this month's notes

must be the performance of Chester­field's Mandy Mellor who reached the final of the English Junior Girl's at Crystal Palace beating Linda Howard, and Judith Walker en route! It was fJ. great performance by a Derbyshire player and is the first of many which we hope will follow on. Mandy's coach, County player CO'LIN DEATO'N' must be well pleased with his pupil's performance, and he will surely have learnt the departments that need strengthening in Mandy's game.

Chesterfield have been producing some good young players but, although seemingly very promising, have never really done much outside the County. Perhaps this is the breakthrough that is needed.

A further coaching session for Chesterfield players was arranged at Lea Green on 22-23 January, and the previous weekend, also at Lea Green, by invitation only, for Derbyshire'.5 leading junior players under the control of Northern A.rea Coach Peter Simpson. Attending this latter session was Mike Yallop, who is doing a worthwhile job on Derby's junior players in competition with Chester­field. Mike has helped onto the first few rungs of the ladder such as I vor Warner (Derbyshire Junior Cham­pion), his own son David (Derby Town player), Phil Vickers (2nd Division Champion), S. Singh, and, among the girls, E. Mills and L. Peach. But foremost of these must be Marilyn D'eakin, a former Derby Lady Champion and County Senior player, although only just out of the junior limit herself.

The County Championships are to be held in Derby at the B.R.E,.L. Canteen of the Locomotive Works on Saturday, 15th April, 1972. Arrange­ments will be made by Derby on the County's behalf. The Canteen appears to be a popular venue with the players and officials alike.

OPEN TOURNAMENTS

Unfortunately, the Chubb I-Star Tournament due to have been held on Jan. 9, 16 and 23, was cancelled due to venue problems and the Oxfordshire Open, scheduled for Sun­day, Jan. 16, was cancelled due to financial reasons, the chief factor being the low number of entries. By way of compensation two new tourna­ments have gone into the calendar and they are:-

Basingstoke 2-Star Openr----April 29/30

at Basingstoke Sports Centre. Tour­nament Secretary: Mrs. A. Waters, "Dell Field", Fox Lane, Newfound, Basingstoke, Hants.

North Herts,. 2-Star Open-May 6/7

at R.A.F. Henlow. Tournament Secretary: Mr. J. Jermyn, 191 Baldock Road, Letchworth, Herts. The date of the Essex 2-Star Open

has been changed from Jan. 22/23 to April 15/16.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Mr. and Mrs. p'ercy Hyde to 22 Gairloch Avenue, Lakes Estate, Bletchley, Bucks.

RUSSIAN TOUR Red tide stemmed at Lostock

by George R. Yates

TREVOR TAYLOR who, stepped eve,n de,eper into Cheste:r Barnes' shoes by winning the men's singles title, in the Lancashire Open to take ove,r the crown undefended by his Essex colle,ague.

FOLLOWING on the Soviet Union's 4-3 win over England in a first division EURO'PEAN LEAGUE Ina{ch at Bolton's Institute of Technology on Friday, January 14, pointers were for a wholesale swarnping of five events in the 2-Star LANCASH IRE ()PEN on the following day at nearby Hawker Siddeley Dynalnics, Lostock.

Such, however, was not the case at least so far as the tnen's events were concerned - for Russias's wo1'ld­ranked Stanislav (;otnozkov was stopped in the senli-final of the singles by Alan Hydes who further «)1nbined with Denis Neale to beat the top seed partnered by his cOlnpatriot Anatoliy St rokatov in t he doubles final.

Despite these Yorkshire succcsses, the top prize of L2ij, sponsored by Unit Pallets (KV) Ltd., of Bolton, was not destincd to finish up in a 'ryke wallct.

U njJlayahLe on ti,e riay, Trr{lo'r Fay/or saw to that (lI) he rifled Ilis way through all ojJIJositioll, in straight g-a m.cs , (f,ith the ajJ!omb of a sniper flicking off clay !Jigeolls on a fair­grO!l nd rang{).

NOlle could li\e with the Hitchin boy in wh~e wake lay the crushed hopes of Lancashire's P. Davies, Wally Allanson and Philip Bowen, Ian Johns of Cheshire and, in the quarters, Russia's triple European Youth chanlpion, Strokatov, beaten t4 and ]1 !

In the sCllli-Jinals it was Neale who took the count, and Inore decisively than at Crystal Palace the previous weekend. Hydes fared even worse in

Page 6

-Photo' by Tony Ross.

the final, his role being silllilar to that of King Canute in his attempt to halt the incotlling tide.

(~om()zkov faltered in Round 3 wh en taken to a deciding game by Derek Munt but fought, as in defence of Stalingrad, before going down to Hydes in a nail-biting penultimate set.

Russia's youngest squad member was European Cadet winner, BagTat Burnazian, from Armenia, whose victory over Nicky Jarvis in Round 4 was his zenith for he fell to Neale in the q uarlers.

A quality cntry saw the likcs of Lancashire's NO.1, 'rony Boastnan, ousted soon after 10 a.ll1. in the prelilninaries by Laurie Landry who subsequently took a real clobbering frotH Neale, 9 and 6, in Round g.

L()N E S'rAND

No such spirited opposilion was forthcotHing in the counterpart WOlllen's event in which only Jill HanllHersley barred the path of the all ­conquering Russians whose European d13Jnpion Zoya Rudnova, had an easy final victory over Svetlana Fcderova (nee Grinberg) in the final.

It was to Svetlana that Jill fell, in threc, as did Lancashire's Susan Lisle, to the Soviet's i~o. 3 Asta Gedraitite. Fornler holder, Connie Moore, lost to Rudnova in the quarters after account­ing for Barbara Kirktnan and Sylvia Broadbent.

ln the tIlen 's doubles, Burnazian was paired with l'aylor, and this Anglo-

Soviet combine blossorned to a serni­final tneeting with BagTat's senior collegues, having put down the more likely finalists, Landry and l'ony Clayton, in the quarters.

Jarvis and Alan Ransotne, the NO.4 seeds, lost in the open ing round to Cheshire veteran, Derek Schofield paired with Derek Munt. Nor did this partnership prosper losing in the next round to Roger Halnpson and Mike Johns.

Jill Hanlmersley had Asta Gedraitite as her partner in the wonlen's doubles but, after beating Connie Moore and Kath Perry in the semis, slurnped to easy defeat in the final to the top Soviet pair.

A trelllC ndous Inixed semi, between Tay!or and Mrs. Hanunersley ag,'linst Strokatov and M,rs. Federova, saw the Russians nose home 22-20 in the decider and they kept up the good work to win the event with a final victory over Gomozkov and Miss Rudnova following some tnajestic hitting by· Svetlana.

Against such formidable opposi tion the chance of a Red Rose victory, in any event, was renlote, but what lneasure of success there was had its climax in the victory of Burnley's Arthur Hartshorn in the veteran singles. Having taken Burnazian to three in the second round of the men's singles, East Lancashire's "Mr. Evergreen" played two rounds of the veterans' even t before disposing of Len Browning in a tnarathon senli and, finally Brian Starkie, with 'expedit~'

prevailing in the deciding garBe.

Results:

Men's Singles: Round 4: S. Gomozkov (USSR) bt B. Mitchell (Lanes.)

7, 14; M. Johns (Ches.) bt B. Farnworth (Lanes.)

17, 16; A. Clayton (Yorks.) bt M. Howell (Warwks.)

15, 10; A. Hydes (Yorks.) bt A. Murray (Warwks.)

17, 13; T. Taylor (Essex) bt I. Johns (Ches.) 10, 9; A. Strokatov (USSR) bt A. Ransome (Yorks.)

18, 16; B. Burnazian (USSR) bt N. Jarvis (Yorks.)

15, 18; D. Neale (Yorks.) bt R. Cooper (Warwks.)

13, 9. Quar'ter~finals: Gomozkov bt Johns 15, 11 ; Hydes bt Clayton

17, 16;

Taylor bt Strokatov 14, 11; Neale bt Burna~ zian 19, 11,

Semi~finals.: HYDES bt Gomozkov 20, 22; TAYLOR bt

Neale 15, 18. Final: TAYLOR bt Hydes 9, 16. W'omen's Singles,: Quarter~finals:

Z. Rudnova (USSR) bt C. Moore (Lanes.) 10, 6;

A Gedraitite (USSR) bt S. Lisle (Lanes.) 17, -16, 12;

1. Hammersley (Bucks.) bt D. Schofield (Ches.) 10, 16;

S. Federova (USSR) bt D. Johnson (Lanes.) 13, 9.

Semi~fin,als: RUDNOVA bt Gedraitite 16, 12; FEDEROVA

bt Hammersley -18, 15, 18. Final: RUDNOVA bt Federova 14, 11. Mev. s Doubles: Quarter~finals:

Gomozkov/Strokatov bt B. Johns (Ches. )/1. Jolllls 11, 15;

Burnazian/Taylor bt Clayton/L. Landry (I\Iliddx.) 14, 18;

R. Hampson (Ches.)/M. Johns bt M. Lewis (Warwks.)/Mitehell 7, -18, 10;

Hydes/Neale bt D. Bdghouse/A. Carter (Lanes.) 14, 6.

Sen IJ~finals~

GONIOZKOV/STROKATOV bt Burnazian/ Taylor 17, -18, 16;

HYDES/NEALE bt Hampson/Johns 11, 15. Final: HYDES/NEALE bt Gomozkov/Strokatov 20,

7. Women's DOiub~es: Quar'ter~fin,als:

Federova/Rudnova bt K. Baxendale (Lanes.)/ p. Waller (Ches.) 9, 6;

T. Green (Ches. )/Lisle bt S. Manning/B. vVilliams (Lanes.) 21, 19;

Moore/K., Perry (Staffs.) bt V. Blore/M, Francis (Lanes.) 6, 11;

Gedraitite/Hammersley bt Johnson/Schofield 16, 9.

Szmi~finals:

FEDEROVA/RUDNOVA bt Green/Lisle 13, 10;

GEDRAITITE/HAMMERSLEY ht Moore/ Perry 20, 13.

Final: . FEDEROVA,jRUDNOVA bt Gedraitite/Ham~

mersley 10, 16. M'xed D.oubles: Quarter~finals:

Gomozkov/Rudnova bt D. Schofield (Ches.)/ Johnson 10, 15;

Burn:nian/Gedraitite bt M, Johns/Lisle 21, ~9, 10;

Strokatov/Federova bt Clayton/J . Walker (Yorks.) 13, 9;

Taylor/Hammersley bt B. Johns/Green 11, 15. Semi~fin.als: GOMOZKOV/RUDNOVA bt Burnazian/

Gedraitite 8, 14; STROKATOV/FEDEROVA bt Taylor/Ham~

mersley 14, -20, 20. Final: STROKATOV/FEDEROVA bt Gomozkov/

Rudnova 15, 17. Vete,ran SinqleSi: Semi~finalS!: B. STARKIE (Yorks.) bt A. Heyes (Lanes.)

-17, 18, 9; A. HARTSHORN (Lanes.) bt L. Browning

(Yorks.) ~15, 18, 15. Final: HARTSHORN bt Starkie ~20, 14, 10.

LAURIE LANDRY (Middlesex) conqueror of Mancunian, Tony Boas.man, in the preliminary round of the men's s~ngles event at Hawker Sidde;ey Dynamics, Lostock, Bo'iton.

-Photo' by Photobition Photography Ltd., London.

Bolton S.S.8. League ChairmlCln, Rupert E. de Riggs, accompanied by E.T.T.A. Chairm:an, Cha.rlelS! Wyles, he're shakes hands with England's Jill Hammie1rsle'y befo,re the European L,elagu,e match.

'Photo by F'rank Davies, Bolton.

Pictured with Ithe proprieto,rs of the Swa110wfield GueiSt House, Horwich, Mr. and Mrs. Ted Leece, are (1. to r.) Stanis,lav Go,mOlzkov, Asta Gedraitite, Zolya Rudno,va, Ian Bowling (interp'rete~r), Mrs. Leece:, Svetlana Federova, Anatoliy Stroka.tov (with hands on. the shoulder of B,egr.aJt Bumazian), Tatiana Selezneva (leade:r) and Mr. Leece.

'Photo by Frank Davies, Bolton.

Russlia's Europ'ean trip'le Youth champiOttlI, AnatoJiy Strokatov, he're gets in a spot of p,ractice at the Bolton Institute of Technology.

'Photo by Frank Davies, Bolton.

I!UROPEAN LEAGUE

Seldom has an international match got under way with such a superb set as that which had raised the curtain on the European League match the previous evening.

It featured England's NO.1, Denis Neale and Anatoliy Strokatov in a set­to which had a crowd of 800 on the edge of their seats. Neale triumphed in this hard-hitting encounter but, try as he did, was unable to make his game flow in the same manner when opposed by Gomozkov in the penulti ­mate set which the Russian NO.1 won to give his side a decisive 4-2 lead.

Earlier a seemingly nervous Trevor Taylor had lost to Gomozkov, and Karenza Mathews had taken a ham­mering from Miss Rudnova. A well­nlerited men's doubles success levelled the nlatch score at 2-2 only for Russia to storm to success in the mixed doubles to be followed by Gomozkov's match-winning effort against Neale.

Taylor's final win over Strokatov was well accomplished but succeeded only in narrowing the final result.

Individual scores (in match order) were:­D. Neale bt A. Strokatov 18, -20, 15; T. Taylor lost to S. Gomozkov -16, -8; Mrs. K. Mathews lost to Miss

Z. Rudnova 8-21, 18-21; Neale/Taylor bt Gomozkov/Strokatov

20, 10; Neale/Mrs. Mathews lost to Gomozkov

/Miss Rudnova -17, -13; Neale lost to Gomozkov -20, -16; Taylor bt Strokatov 15, 15.

FRIENDLY LET-DOWN

A second international lnatch against the Soviet Union was played at Dunstable on Monday, January 17 when England, in the words of Daily Telegraph correspondent, Geoffrey Harrower, "suffered a humiliating 6-2 defeat" .

Both Gomozkov and Zoya Rudnova took no part in this friendly en­counter, nor too did Denis Neale for England who tried out Nicky Jarvis.

Home successes were both achieved at the expense of 15-years-old Burnazian in men's singles, the dis­appointments coming with the defeat of both Taylor and Jarvis by Strokatov.

Even sadder was the showing of Karenza Mathews and Jill Hammersley, the former going down to Asta Gedraiti te and the latter winning only 20 points in her two ganles with Svetlana Federova.

By far the best set of the evening was the mixed doubles in which Jarvis and Mrs. Mathews were only just beaten over three games, all with advantage.

Individual scores:­T. Taylor bt B. Burnazian 19, 12; N. Jarvis lost to A. Strokatov -13, -8; Mrs. K. Mathews lost to Miss

A. Gedraitite 13, -13, -15; Taylor / Jarvis lost to Burnazian/

Strokatov 15, -15, -17; Mrs. J. Hammersley lost to Mrs. S.

Federova -7, -13; Jarvis/Mrs. Mathews lost to Strokatov /

Mrs. Federova 21, -22, -20; Taylor lost to Strokatov -15, 19, -12; Jarvis bt Burnazian 15, 16.

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Page 7

(:~aD TheCO(i:Cola National Team Trophy

i The Coca-Co'. Nation.' Team

Trophy CORlpetitions

by Ke,ith Pontiing

HOLDERS GO MARCHING ON - BUT WILLESDEN B~ATEN

IN ROUND THREE

At this stage in the competition we find that the holders of the four competitions are still involved with defending their trophies won at Crystal Palace last May. The Wilmott and Carter Cup champions, North Yorkshire, had convincing wins in round three not conceding a set. In the Rose Bowl, Central London had an easy 9-0 win whilst the Bromfield Trophy champions, Barking, also had little trouble. The shock of the round was the defeat of Willesden, who only just failed to win the Wilmott Cup last season. They were beaten by Wembley and our congratulations go to them.

WILMOTT CUP North Yorkshire 9, Northumberland 0

Alan Ransome, Nicky Jarvis and Trevor Taylor were far too strong for the visitors. Boston 4, Ches,tertteld 5

A thrilling match with the result depending on the last set. Chester­field can thank Colin Deaton for their win after his fine maximurn and his match clincher in the final set

Burnle¥ 2, Pvesrton 7 Tony Rigby and Donald p'arker

were unbeaten for Preston.

Bolton 0, Stockport 5 Bolton were without Mike Johns

and two wins each from Roger Hamp­son and Brian Kean, plus one from Phillip Mayman, gave the visitors this surprisingly easy win.

Leicester 2, Birmin'gham 7 Derek Munt was in good form ,for

the visitors winning his three sets. He was well supported by Richard Cooper and P'at Glynn who won two each. P. Randell and C. Jacques scored for Leicester.

Wymondham 2, Ely 7 Bryan J ones and Mick p'almer were

the heroes for Ely with three wins apiece. Bledford 2, Cheshunt 7

Secretary Bob Bridges tells me that ((Digger" Lampell's ((Anti-spin" bat was not too effective in this match. Dave Rawlinson played the ((dead" bat and gained a good win. Barry White and Chris Pickard again con­vincing winners for the visitors.

High Wycombe 0, North Herts 6 Two wins each from. Richard

Morris, Michael Harper and Peter Taylor were just too much for the home team.

Cambridge 0, East London 7 A useful Cambridge side could make

no headway against the visitors, with Stuart Gibbs leading the way with a fine maximum. R. Stevens and D. Brown scored two each.

Barking 9, B,asHdon ° Steve Smith, Dave Bowles and Ian

Robertson in great form for Barking as the score suggests.

W,embley 5, Willelsden 4 Last year's finalists crashed un­

expectedly to Wembley, but all credit to M. Close, A. Thomas and B. Lahiri who played well. R. Yule scored three for the visitors who were with­out Landry and Sugden.

Bro~nle!y 9, Tunbridge Wclls ° Only one set needed a decider with

Barry Meisel, Terry Farlie and Leslie Etheridge easy winners.

Worthinlg 5, Cr-a,vley 4 A fine maximum by John Clarke

for Crawley was all in vain as P'at Metters, Robin Stace and Mike McLaren just eased home. Southampton 6, Portsmouth 3

Jeffrey Spencer was the hero for the home team, against their friendly rivals from P'ortsmouth, being un­beaten. Keith Summerfield won two and Bill Moulding one. Stephen Marley and Ray Lush won for Pompey.

B,as,ingstoke 6, S.W. Middlesex 3 Another maximum from Robert

Thornton helped the home team gain this very good win.

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PRESTON SPORTS DEPOT 141 FRIARGATE - PRES,TOIN PR1 2EE Branche,s aliso i1n Wilgaln alnd St. H,elens

Page 8

BristOiI 7, Exeter 2 Once again, Exeter were beaten by

Bristol in this competition. Brian Reeves and Colin Feltham scored two but Johnnie Wise was the star player with a maximum. Mike Rattue and Mike P'utland won one each for E,xeter.

ROSE BOWL Liverpool 0, S~,ockport 6

The visitors are well fancied to reach the final and in this match Susan Lisle, Doreen Schofield and Diane Johnson made no mistakes.

Spalding 5, Grimsby 4 Despite a fine maximurn from Mrs.

C. Moran, the visitors just failed to beat Spalding with Mrs. M. Burgess and Miss J. White winning two and Miss M. Green one.

Westt Brom,wich 5, Leic'est'e'r 1 The experience, of Kath Perry and

Dorothy, Deeley gave therp. two wins each and with one from Mrs. A. Baker saw the home team through.

Grea.t Yarmouth 3, StOlwmarket 6 Once again the List family had a

good win. Janet was the star this time winning all her sets. She was well supported by ((Mum" who won two and sister Doreen with one.

Watford 4, North Herts 5 A real cliff-hanger with the result

depending on the last set. Daphne Baines was in fine form for the visitors and won all her sets.

High Wycombe 1, Reading 5 The home team won the first set,

but then Reading moved into top gear and wins by Wendy Bagshaw, Karen Mashford and Merril Massey saw them through the next five.

North Middlesex 5, London C. Service 2

SOfie close games in this match. Anne P'ainter and Margaret Cherry won two each and Sylvia Tyler one for the home team whilst Marie Know won the only two for the visitors.

Maidstone 0, Central London 9 Judy Williams, Diane Simpson and

Shelagh Hession in no trouble at a.ll although full marks to the brave Maidstone team who all played well.

East London 8, Dagenham 1 Tllis match started well for Dagen­

ham when Elaine Tarte'll beat the new English Closed Junior champion, Janet Hellaby, in straight games. But then Ladies' finalist Lesley Radford and Elsie Carrington won all their sets with comparative ease.

London Business HouS'es3, Romford 6

Beryl Clayton played very well to win three for the home team but two wins each from Phyllis and Valerie Lauder and Ann Hewitt saw Romford through. Incidentally, Phyllis Lauder played for the L.B.H. in this com­petition 38 years ago and is still going strong-some lady!

Hastings 4, Eastboum,e 5 Once again, a very close match

between these old rivals the outcome depending on the final' set. Angela Mock and Diane Gard won two each and p'auline Murrell one. Margaret Dignum and Susan Franklin scored two each for the home team.

Southampton 0, Portsmouth 9 Sheila Foster, Daphne Gray and

Mrs. T. Clay were all in tremendous form against their old rivals.

Ne,wbury 2, Guildfolrd 7 The Howard sisters, together with

Mrs. R. Miles, had little trouble in winning this match. Miss J. T'aylor

played well to win two for Newbury.

Ex,eter 5, Dlevize'S 4 Once again, the experience of Pam

Mortimer saw Exeter through against a useful Devizes team for whom Alison Boyce played particularIy well.

CARTER CUP NOl1th Yo'rkshire 5, Stockton 0

The holders had another easy passage with Tony Martin and Brian and David Alderson all playing well.

Boston 5, Hull 3 Mike Wright played very well to

win three for Hull but two wins each from P'aul Cater and Laurence Brown, plus one from Jimmy Brewster, saw the home team through.

Westmorland 3, Plreslton 6 Once again, Donald P'arker scored

a fine maximum for Preston. He was well supported by Barry Crook with two and Mike Foulkes with a solo. Bryan Towell and Ronald Wilson won for Westmorland.

Stockport 8, Manches1te:r 1 John Evans and David Castree won

all their sets for the home team and John Hook weighed in with two. Colin Lees was the lone winner for Manchester.

Nottinigham 3, Birmingham 6 Two wins each from Jeff Nix,

Stephen Taylor and D'esmond Douglas were too much for Nottingham. Roger Dawkins and Michael Douglas scored their wins.

Wisbech 6, Norwich 3 The visitors started well by win­

ning the first two sets but could not keep it up as Randall Bell, Dennis Wells and John Loveday won two each for Wisbech.

Cambridge 8, Hunts Central 1 P'aul Day, and Chris Fuller won all

their sets and John Willis well sup­ported them with two wins for this useful looking Cambridge team. Tim Speller won the only set for the visitors.

Dunstable 0, Norlth He,rts 9 P'eter Taylor, Richard Morris and

Marcus Baines were all in great form.

Southend 7, Romford 2 Unusually, Andrew Bawden lost

two sets in this match, but his brother, Michael, along with J . Wilson won all theirs. J. Drew and P. Hale won one set each for the visitors.

Cheshunt 31 B1arking 6 Some close games with the home

team winning the first two sets. But then Ian Horsham won all his sets to see Barking through.

Bromley 6, SittingbOlum,e 3 Andrew Mitchell and Neil Hobbs

with three wins each were the heroes for Bromley. David Weller, John Martin and David Crayford won one set each for the visitors.

Easlt Grinstead 0, Crawley 9 Only one set needed a decider,

with G. P'ugh, G. Taylor and A. Allars in great form.

BOiurnlemouth 2, Southampton 5 A fine maximum by Jeff Brixton

helped the visitors win this close match. Steve Wilson played well to win two sets for Southampton.

Reading 7, B'asingstoke 2 Gary Harding, with three wins,

together with two wins each from Anthony Stevens and Trevor Fafin­sky were too strong for the visitors, with Michael Caudrey recording their wins.

COCA-COLA TEAM TROPHY COMPETITIONS continued

Plymouth 6, Bristol 3 Kenny Reeves and Keith James

were both unbeaten to give Plymouth this good win. Michael Williams, Christopher Sewell and Alan Hussey all won one each for Bristol.

BROMFIELD TRO'PHY Not1th Yorkshire 1, Hull 8

Last year's losing finalists played as if they mean to get there again with Anne McCarthy and Janet Rutter winning all their sets well supported by Tina Fethon with two wins. Pat Clements won the only set for the home team.

Stockport 2, Live!rpool 7 Susanne Manning led the way for

Liverpool with a fine maximum. B. Kirkman and B. Williams won two each in this convincing win. Janice Green won two for Stockport.

St. Neots 0, Leicester 9 The experienced Leicester team

were far too strong for a very game St. N eots side. Anita Stevenson, Karen Rogers and Janet Billson won all their sets in straight games.

Cambridge 4, North Herts 5 A very close match which could

have gone either way. Sandra Hard­ing with three wins made sure it went to North Herts.

Ches:hunrt 6, Wembley 3 A fine maximum by Middlesex No.

1 Jane Hartwell for Cheshunt excellently backed up by 12-year-old Angella Mitchell with two good wins in her debut. Dagenhalll 2, B,arking 7

The champions mean to keep the trophy if this win is anything to go

by. Janet HeUaby, with three wins, and Gillian Locke and Gillian Taylor look good bets to retain the champion­ship they won last season. Elaine Tarten played very well to win two sets for Dagenham.

North Acton 2, Thames Valle!y 7 Angela Crisp and Susan Tame won

three sets each to win the match for the visitors.

Bromle!y 0, Silttinlgbourne 9 A very easy win for Sittingbourne,

with only four games going into double figures. Julie Holtam, P'at Gouge and Lynn Holtam were all in fine form.

Guildford 7, Worthing 2 Nicolette Leslie was unbeaten for

the home team with Nina Webb and Lynne DowIe winning two each. Linda Wales played well to win two for Worthing.

Basingstoke 1, Readin,g 8 As the score suggests an easy win

for Reading. Christine Whittingham and Ruth Gilbert won three each and Mary Johnson two. Judith Aldren was the lone winner for Basingstoke.

Boumemouth 5, Newbury 4 Caroline Reeves played brilliantly

to win three for Newbury, but to no avail as Julie Reading, Beverley Davis and Jane Harvey just edged home in this very close match.

Southalnpton 4, Taunton 5 Anothe1r very close match and a

good win for the Taunton girls who had two newcomers in their side. Susan Beazer and Ann Wilson won two each and Jill Wilson one. Lesley King played very well to win all her sets for Southampton.

NORfOLK NOllES by J. S. Penny

YARMOUTH SCHOO'LS TO THE FORE

Great Yarmouth League have held their Handicap Tournament, for which 31 players entered. That keen player, Paul Durrant ( 19) came through, beating Jimmy Biss (18) 2-1 in the final. Chris Bensley (SCI.) and S. Brown (25) reached the semis.

In the English Schools' Champion­ships, Yarmouth schools will rep­resent Norfolk in the Area finals in all six sections in which entries were received. Yarmouth Grammar School beat Hamond's (Swaffham) 6-2.

At the half-way stage, Yarmouth league leaders are:- Premier: Iron Duke "A"; I: G.P:O. "A"; II: Work­ing Men's I A' '; III: P'ower StationI

liE"; IV: Gorleston Conservatives "C" and Caister Y.C. "A"; Juniors: Freethorpe "B".

A record entry of 28 was received for the Norfolk champion club con­test, in the first round of which Yar­mouth's Iron Duke beat Watneys, fourth in the Norwich Premier Divi­sion' 5-4.

In the E. Anglian League of Leagues, Ipswich head Division I and the Junior Division and Lowestoft top Division II. '

Positions in the North Norfolk League, of which John Bishop is Secretary:---­

p' W D' LP'ts Wymondham 6 6 0 0 12 K. Lynn 6 5 0 1 10 Cromer 5 3 0 2 6

Wisbech .) 2 1 2 5 Fakenham 6 1 2 3 4 Dereham 6 1 1 4 3 Thetford 6 0 0 6 0

We are glad to hear that Dereham League's Secretary, Frank Bower j s making a good recovery from ' his recent illness. In that league's Team Handicap for their Committee Cup, an all-women team, 66 Club liB", fr?m Div. 2, beat Jentique, 2nd in Dly. 1, by 521-448 in the first round.

Tickets for the England v. Czecho­slovakia European League match at Lads' Club, King Street, NorwiCh, on Thursday, Mar. 9, 1972, have been fixed at £1 (Reserved) and 75p (Un­reserved) . Applications should be made to Tom Stevenson (Sports) Ltd., Swan Lane, Norwich.

EUROPEAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS

These Championships will be held from August 7-12 in Vejle, Denmark.

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Page 9

~rP@trJ1il®OOtr @Lro PHILIP REID

Phil Reid p 1aJU5eS to accept words of advice on what typ,e of se~rvice to emplof!

by John Bowness

In his regular Spotlight featlfte in Top Spin, the Official Newsletter of the Leicester and District Table Tennis League, Phil Read often writes about such things as players with "the longest playing record", or "the oldest bat".

He could not have given anyone the title of Leicester's "Mr. Table Tennis" because, quite frankly he holds this hims~lf, not from the play­ing angle, although he has been a very good player, but from the enormous amount of administrative work he undertakes each week.

Phil first viewed the game back in 1947 at the Caldicote Youth C1ub, B,raunstone where he saw, amongst others, Brian Austick having a knock about and thought, "This is the game for mev .

League play, by way of his firm, Dunlop, came in 1948 and the team won Division 7 at the first attempt with Phil losing only two se,ts playing with Ernie Fox and John Surch.

ON THE MOVE Alas the team split up almost

immediately and Phil moved first of

Page 10 ­

all to Braunstone and then to Sileby before joining the club he has never since left, Leicester Y.M.C.A., who owe a lot to this man.

His initial season for them in Divi­sion One was restricted to the "E," team for, out of 11 teams that season, no less than five were from the Y.M.C.A.

Phil's season to remember was 1959/60. Before this he had never won a tournament but here he was not only winning the Leicester Y.M.C.A. Open men's singles but the doubles as well with Bren Thompson and then in the Leicestershire Closed he lost in the men's singles final to Charlie Jacques.

That same season saw the County senior team back in action after a lapse, in the Midland Division Three and the team record makes interest­ing reading. In three 10-set matches, all won, the sets analysis was For 20 Against 10. Players' returns were:- p. Reid (6-0), C. Jacques (6-0), J. Burraston (5-1) and others (3-9). In other words 17 of the 20 sets gained were from the m-en's singles.

Altogether Phil played in 82 rep­resentative matches including County and Midland League. However) it's in administration that Phil has really come into his own, particularly as Chairman/Secretary of the Leicester­

shire T.l~. Association and a L.D.T.T.L. committee member for 21 continuous years-this will be his 22nd season.

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER His pen is prolific for he writes

articles for a dozen or so magazines and newsletters, including Canada, U.S.A. and Australia, as well as England's Table Tennis News and, of course, our own Top Spin! His tongue, on Radio Leicester, is just as prolific.

I often wonder where he finds all the time to do everything he does for his various jobs, taking League, County and Country commitments into consideration, are really too numerous to mention here.

His knowledge of sport is by no means restricted to table tennis as he so aptly demonstrated in the L.D'.T.T.L.'s winning team in last season's Radio Leicester Top Team sports quiz. His almost photographic memory coupled with his general knowledge proved more than useful.

Sometime in the future, whether it be 10, 20 or 40 years ahead tpro­bably the latter) someone will be taking over the mantle of Leicester's Mr. T'able Tennis. Whoever it is will have to be entirely dedicated to table tennis and I cannot imagine anyone more dedicated than Philip Reid.

Winton Restricted 1-Star Open

BOURNEMOUTH PLAYERS TAKE HONOURS

by John Luther

Honours in four of the seven events making up the lasit Winton YMCA'S annual restricted I-star open tourna­ment were won by local players. Just under 100 players took part and the standard of play remained on a high level throughout-even reaching top level.

With players taking part from as far afield as Birmingham, London, Bristol, Leicester and Plymouth, the pinnacle in the standard of play was reached during a men's singles third round clash between Bournemouth's Chris Pickard and Derek Holman.

I t was a classic encounter for all youngsters to try to emulate with Pickard taking the first game 22-20. Hitting back, Holman levelled the set score at I-all with a 29-27 success in the second.

The decider saw Pickard go into a 19-16 lead when it looked to be over, bar the shouting, but in table tennis, guts and the will to fight back counts for much and Holman came back to take the honours at 21-19.

Then, of course, as so often happens after an intense struggle, Holman went out and the men's singles final was left to be fought out between an Essex and a Birmingham player.

Joyce Coop won three titles and winner of the "Player of the Day" award went to Steve Wilson (Bourne­mouth) .

Results: M.S.: D. Bowl,es (Essex) bt R.

Brown (Warwks.) 19, 18. W.S.: J. Coop (Hants.) bt T. Dale

(Essex) 17, 13.

M.D'.: BowIes(C. Pickard (Rants.) bt J. Hughes/P. Randell (Leices.) 9, 18

W.D·.: Coop/I. Vas1s (Dorset) bt Dale!J. Wetmore (Gloues.) 17, 19.

X.D.: T. Smith (Hants,)/Coop bt B. ReevesjP. Beazer (Somerset) 15, 18.

B.S.: K. James (Devon) bt G. Lang­land (Hants.) 6, 16.

G.S.: S. Beazer (Somerset) bt L. King (Rants.) 17, -22, 11.

Coca-Cola Awards 1971-72

TAYLOR NARRO'WS THE GAP

Due to his exploits in the English Closed, and in the Lancashire 2-Star Open (which netted him 180 points), Trevor Taylor has bounced up from fourth to second position and now only 125 points separate him from leader Denis Neale in the men's section.

As a result of winning 105 points at Crystal P'alace, David Alderson enters the list for the first time as does Alan Hydes, with 100 points gained in the Red Rose tournament at Hawker Siddeley, Lostock, Bolton.

The big lead established by Linda Howard, in the women's section, has been cut back to an approachable distance by English Closed winner, Karenza Mathews, and now only 70 points separate leader from runner­up. Positions:­

M!en 1. D. Neale (Yorks. ) 930 2. T. Taylor (Essex) 805 3. N. Jarvis (Yorks.) 493 4. C. Barnes (Essex) 410 5. O. Haslam (Middx.) 375 6. A. Clayton (Yorks.) 267 7. B. Burn (Warwks.) 235 8. C. Warren (Surrey) 215 9. M. Johns (Ches.) 175

10. R. Chandler (Sussex) 140 11. J. Walker (Yorks.) 130 12. A. Ransome (Yorks.) 123 13. A. Hydes (Yorks.) 120 14. D. Brown (Essex) 115 15 D. Alderson (Yorks.) 105

Women 1. L. Howard (Surrey) 675 2. K. Mathews (Middx.) 605 3. J. Hammersley (Bucks.).... 55U 4. J. Williams (Sussex) 338 5. S. Hession (Essex) 320 6. L. Radford (Essex) 195 7. D. Simpson (Ess~x) 175 8. J. Heaps (Ches.) 164 9. B. Bird (Kent) 125

10. L. Bashford (Yorks.) 122 11. S. Howard (Surrey) 110 12. S. Lisle (Lanes.) 105

The above players constitute all those with a 100 points or more.

SWEDISH VISITORS

The Ytterby T.T. Club of Gothen­burg will be arriving in London on the morning of Saturday, April 15, 1972 with 12 junior players (aged about 13) and 3 senior players. They would like to playa match in London that same evening as they return to Sweden on Sunday, April 16 after spending the night at the Regent p'alace. Interested clubs please con­tact Mr. Albert Shipley, at the E.T.T.A. office, ('Phone: 01-580 6312) .

DIFFERENT CHANNEL SAME IMAGE

Looking back at DIy C?py of Table Tennis News for January 1971 I was reminded of how the B.B.C. made a drastic cut in the time scheduled for the broadcasting of the English Closed championships, and the feeble excuses given in "Radio Times".

This year, as many Table Tennis enthusiasts will know, it was LT.V's. turn to disappoint us. The time scheduled for broadcasting the English Closed was 40 minutes. About 25-30 minutes of this time was taken up by starting prices, football scores, a~verts

and tennis. The only table tennIs we saw comprised three short games.

The LT.V. announcer seemed almost apologetic to the viewers awaiting their weekly dose of dramatic wrestling. The commentary, during our brief glimpse of table tennis, was mediocre. Almost no mention was made of the earlier rounds of the competition, and no mention at all of other events such as doubles.

Isn't it about time the E.T.T.A. took steps to make the T.V. companies aware that table tennis is the most popular indoor sport in the country?

G. M. B. FRANKELL. 408 Loten Hall, The University, Hull, Yorks.

ALL WORTHWHILE Now that the dust has settled on the

recent Chinese tour, it is refreshing to si t back as the Midlands Press Officer and reflect on the wonderful coverage given to the international match in Birmingham.

For far too long now table tennis copy has filled more Sports Editors spikes than one cares to remember, and yet the recent press treatment given to the Chinese tour, nlade all those late nights on the typewriter worthwhile.

Of course I am only referring to one match, but if the rest of the tour got the same coverage, it proves once again that 1'f we bring world class opposition to these shores, or produce our own world champion, we can still live with other sports on the back pages of the national and provincial newspapers.

For the record, two feature articles were carried in the 'tlirmingham Post and Mail on the Chinese party as well as a good match report.

Radio Birming-hanl met the team on their arrival at the airport, joined them again for lunch at Joseph Lucas,

TROPHIES Consult Specialists-

F. CORDELL & SONS (Trophies) Ltd 21 KIN:GLY STR.EET (O'XFORD CIRCUS)

J

LONDON, W.1.

Telephone: 01-437 8893-1921; 01-554 7356 (even,ings).

Courteous Prompt Service

and then did their third recording of the day at the Central Hall.

JOHN PIKE. 15 Glendale Drive, Wombourne, Staffs.

DETRIMENTAL STEP After participating in the Winton

I-Star Restricted Open tournament on January 9, I was very disappointed and annoyed to hear, that due to E.T.T.A. regulations, this tournament will not be held again.

The organisation of the tournament was faultless, and was thoroughly en­joyed by all competitors. To deprive the South-West of a tournament can only be detrimental to the sport which the E.T.T .A. is supposed to be sup­porting.

JILL WETMORE rMlssl 9 The Orchards, Kings,wood, Bristo,l, B815 2UF

LUDICROUS Seventeen years ago the Winton

Y.M.C.A. table tennis section with a membership of about 18 players started the Winton Restricted Open tourna­ment.

Over the past years 1 have been Tournament Referee and Organising Secretary and yet the E.T.T.A. now state, point blank, that I will not be able to Referee any more tournaments.

This, for my part, is ludicrous after a number of requests for a member of the E.T.T.A. to come, in an official capacity, to see the running of this tournament.

JOHN LUllHER.

66 Frederica Ro'ad, Bournemouth, Hants. BH92NA

Geoff James, Chairman of the National Umpires and Referees Com­mittee, writes •••

Mr. Luther's letter is an over simplification-so much so that it creates a ItOltaUy m1s:leadin,g impres~

sian. The Association has never had the slightes1t intention of stopping any toumameo,t, in fact under the curreil1~ regulation1s toumaments have been specificall¥ graded to ,ensure that those which cannOlt meet inte:mationa1 open toumament regulations may still operalte.

However, it does say that the per­son plrimarily respoil1Blible for the running of the toumam,ent i.e. th,e referee, should p,ro1ve that at least he has read and understood !the laws of the gam,e and the basic require,. m 1et1Jts of toumament regulations.

FOlr a I-Star Tournam;ent all that the referee has to do is to p'ass the written test for a County Umpire and a similar /test based on the rules affecting a referee. BOlth tests can be taken at the candidate's home, in his own time and with a,ccess to reference books:. Surely this is no onerous examination but it is cer­tainly the le'a!st that a~ competitor has the right to expect from an event s'anctioil1ed by the Assolciation.

Come on Mr. Luther, ha,ve a g~ at the exam. As the referee for 17 years of a well run toum:ament you should have no trouble in p'assing and !then join,ing th,e mlany distin­guished referees who have already taken the test.

MIDLAND LEA6lJE bV Philip Reid

With the season reaching the three­quarters stage, there are at last clear signs regarding proillotion and relega­tion. In the Men's 1st Division, Birmingham lead Leicester by two sets but the former must be strong favou­rites to top the division. Derek Munt is 100 per cent. and his chances of losing one look, at the best, remote. Wolverhampton are already qoomed to relegation but who are to be their companions in distress? Oxford, who on paper look such a strong side, are right there in the relegation zone, wi thout a paint so far and could make the drop.

Bristol already look certain to move up from Division T'wo but who will go with them? Coventry, Derby and Worcester have all dropped two points but as only Worcester, of these three teams, have played Bristol they must be 'favourites'. Best individual per­formance of the month comes from Walsall's D. Te:tylor, making his debut in the first team. He beat Worcester's Derek Baddeley two straight, but there was no happy ending to the story for Walsall lost the other nine sets.

Cheltenham now look certain to top the 3rd Division, thanks largely to David Harvey who has yet to go to three this season and is the only 100 per cent. player in the division.

Off the mark in the Intermediates Division are Redditch, whose R. Warby won all three in their 7-3 win against Leamington, for whom N. Jelfs played well. Nottingham registered their first win in the Juniors 1st Division when they beat Wolver­hampton 6-4, the highlight being Adrian Ashley's victory over Steve Dunning.

Two of the 100 per cen t. records in the Junior 2nd Division went when M. Green (Cheltenham) lost to Paul Dawson (Nuneaton) and Kevin Hall (Leicester) lost to J. Lancaster (Wor­cester). Only' Stephen Penny (Leic­ester) and D. Jones (Coventry) now have a 100 per cent. record. In this division Coventry lead Cheltenham by four sets.

Last teanl to collect a point in the Veterans 1st Division were Birminghanl 'B'. Newcomer W. Dawson took two in their drawn game with Leicester 'B'. In the Veterans 2nd Division Nottingham 'B' ate leading the field for whom R. Thickpenny is 100 per cent.

In the Ladies' Division, Leicester's victory over Birmingham has placed \t\Test Bromwich, the only unbeaten team in the division, firmly in the position of favourites.

So - nothing settled as yet but plenty of excitement still to come 1

INTERNATIONAL MATCHES Forthcoming international matches

to be noted are:­v. Czechoslovakia Monday, March 6 at Brackhell Sports

Centre. Tuesday, March 7 at Leicester. *Thursday, March 8 at Norwich. v. Hungary *Monday, April 24 at Cliffs Pavilion,

Southend.

Page 11

Tournament Biary NATIONAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

by Keith Pon"ing

BOTH HOLDERS START WITH COMFORTABLE WINS

In the first round of the National Club Championships, both the holders of the Men's and Ladies' Champion­ships were engaged in the defence of the titles they won last season.

l~o start with the ladies. The Gains­ford Club, of the Central London League started with a home match against Whitbread Sports from the London Business Houses League. Unfortunately, the visitors only had two players which made their task even harder. Diane Simpson, Shelagh Hession and Judy Williams don't need a three-set start from anyone, to say the least, and ended up wth a 9-0 win, all the sets played being decided two-straight.

Likewise, the Men's Champions, Ormesby, from North Y orkshire had an easy 9-0 win, only two games going into ,double figures. Their team of Alan Ransome, D'enis Neale and Trevor Taylor were not extended in any way and when one considers the other players this club can call upon, it looks odds on that they will retain their title.

Other women's results: ­

Settlement 'A' (North Herts) 9 Barhil! (Insur.an,ce) 0

Three wins each from Mrs. Enders­by, Mrs. Winwood and Mrs. Calver gave the home team this easy win.

Woodley (Reading) 3, Merton (Boum,emouth) 6

A fine maximum from Mrs. Massey failed to help the home team with Miss Hudson, Mrs. Coop and Mrs. Smith winning two sets each for the Bournemouth club.

MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP

Moor Allerton (Leeds:) 6, Harrogate Wanderers (Har'rogate) 0 Four of the six sets played went

to a decider, but N. Davies, A. Jones and Len Browning won comfortably enough.

Boston Penmaen (Boston) 9, Ely (Wisbech) 0

All sets decided in two games with G. King, B. Hill and M. East in little trouble.

Deepdale Villa (Preston) 5, Savoo/ (Bla.ckpool) 1

K. Bailey won the first set for the visitors, but then K. Swardwick, D. Parker and J. Clegg won the remainder.

Burnley Cricket Club (Burnley) 7, Blackburn Y.M.C.A. (Blackbum) 2 Doug Hodgson and Jack Keogh

were unbeaten for the cricket club.

English Electric (Live:rpool) 4, SilCOODiS (Bolton) 5

Despite a fine maximum from T'ony Clayton the visitors won a thrilling match. From being 3-4 down they fought back to win the last two sets with good wins by Bob Kelly and Clive Heap. Bryn Farnworth also won two for the Bolton team.

Mancheslte:r Y.M,.C.A. (Mancheste1r) 9,

Ilmond (Halifa.x) 0 Although the score seems one sided,

according to the scoresheet there were some close games. Jack Clayton,

Philip Bowen and Tony Boasman played for the Manchester team. Central Y.M.C.A. (Birmingham) 5,

Cookhi11 (Redditch) 2 Richard Cooper, Derek Munt and

D. Backhouse had little trouble although A. Murray played well to win two for the visitors.

St. Neots T.T.C. (B'edford) 8, Hyde T.T.C. (We~,wyn Gdn,. Cilty) 1

G. Cockram and S. Roberts won three each for the Bedford club with E. Haslop supporting well with two wins. The lone winner for Hyde was K. Hardridge.

Raven's T.T.C. (North He!rts) 4, Chesham 'A' (Chiltern) 5

R. Morris was in fine form for the Raven's club, but to no avail as Chesham fought back to take the last two sets to win a thrilling match, with 1. Cowan and J. Davey winning two and D. Granger one.

Fellows Cranleigh (East Lo,ndon) 6, Rosebery "(Chelmsford) 0

Two wins each by David Brown, Ian Robertson and David Bowles gave the home team this comfortable win.

G,ascoigne (D'agenha~n) 3, Metropolitan Water Board

(Walthamstow) 6 T. Campbell, P. Curtis and J.

Andrews won two sets each for the visitors.

WeSlton Y.M.C.A.. (B,ristol) 3, Snows T.T.C. (Southampton) 6

Chris Shelter led the way for the Southampton club with a fine maxi­mum. He was well supported by Bill Moulding with two wins and Ray Lush with one. A. Kinsey with two wins and J. Hartry with one scored for the Bristol club.

A.W.R.E. (Alde:rm,aston,) (Newbury) 4,

Merton (Boume,mouth) 5 R. Thornton scored a fine maximum

for the home team, but this was not enough to beat the Merton club. This match could have gone either way and when the scores were level at 4-4 C. Bush was the hero for the visitors by beating R. Wells to clinch the match. T. Smith and P. Crane all played well for Merton. St. Annes (Stainesl) 5,

Ash (Guildford) 0 An easy win for St. Annes with S.

White, D. Wellsman and P. Shirley never extended.

Byfleet L.T.C. (B,y:flee~t) 4, Reading POSit Office (Reading,) 5

Another very close match but D. Jacobs, E. Cripps and C. F'inden just got home for the P'ost Office team.

TABLE TENNIS TIIOPIIIES

USE THE SPECIALISTS Wide'st se,lection and quickest first-class englraving s,ervice, by rna,il, tele;phoneg or showroom. Send fOlr FREE COLOUR CATALOGUE. Also TIES, BADGES, MEDALS, etc. to any de~s,ign.

Alec Brook Ltd., 01-387 3772/3/4 124 Eustoln Road., LOln1don, N.W.1.

Additional to Date Title and venue no:rmal events Org~nisin:g, SiOCre'tary

Mar. 2/4 45th ENGLISH OIPEN Mr. D. R. '-rrenlayne, CHAMPIONSHIPS VS. E.T.T.A., Dome and Corn Exchang'e, 26-29, Park Crescent, Brighton, Sussex. London, WIN 4HA

11 Northurrlberland 2-Star Open, BS, GS, Mr. T. A. Morpeth, No. I Canteen, VS. 59, Preston Avenue, Dept. of Health & S.S., North Shields, Benton Park Road, Northumberland. Newcastle-on-Tyne. Closing date: 26.2.72

12 Lancashire 2-Star U-15 BS, GS Mr. G. Campbell, Junior Open, V- 13 BS, GS 1, Winslow Road, Institute of Technology Note: No XD Hunger Hill Deane Road, Bolton, Lanes. Bolton, BL3 4SR

Closing date: 25.2.72

18 East of England 2-Star Open, BS, GS Mrs. A. J. Robinson. West Common S.ports Hall, 'Lincot', Scunthorpe, Lines. Highfield Road,

Donington, Spalding, Lines. Closing date: 3.3.72

" 25/ 26 Newbury 2-Star Open, BS, BD, Mrs. G. M. Smith, The Corn Exchange GS, GD, VS. "Greenacres", Newbury, Berks. Pinchington Lane,

Newbury, Berks. Closing date: 8.3.72

" 25/ 26 Sussex Junior 2-Star Open, V-15 BS, Mr. F. H. Rayner, Assembly Hall, GS, BD, GD 32, Frobisher Way, Worthing, Sussex. V-13 BS, GS Goring-by-Sea,

Sussex. Closing date: 28.2.72

Apr. 8 Yorkshire 2-Star Open, VS Mr. B. Foggin, Eston Sports Centre, 25, Woodrow Avenue, Eston, Middlesbrough. Marton,

Middlesbrough, Yorks. Closing date: 18.3.72

8/9 Slough Junior I-Star V-17 BS, GS, XD Mr. J. A. Padtto, Open, V-I5 BS, GS, XD 73, Bexley Street, Slough College of U-I3, BS, GS Windsor, Berks. Technology V-II, BS, GS Closing date: 1.3.72

9 Bedford I-Star Open, Mr. P. Smith, Badminton Hall, 72, Spruce Walk, Bradgate Road, Bedford. Ke'mpton, Bedford.

Closing date: 24.3.72 IRELAND

Mar. 10/11 North West Open (Strabane) c/o Mr. C. Moore, 78, Orby Drive, Belfast, N. Ireland.

J 7 / 18 North of Ireland Open (Kilrea) Fr. Deery, Parochi al House, Kilrea, N. Ireland.

sa>TLAND' 18/19 SCOTTISH OPEN Mrs. Helen Hanlilton,

Meadowbank Sports Centre, 125, Craigleith Road. Edinburgh. Edinburgh.

Mr. B. D'awson, 20, Mauricewood Park, Penicuik, Midlothian.

WALES Mar. 11/12 WELSH OPEN

National Sports Centre, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.

THE 8th EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 15-22 AP'R:IL, 19'72

The following d~tai1s; of the R.T.T.A.'s group travel arrangel­ments ar'e being sent tOI aU enquirelt's and aJ11;yone iiftertested in, jotining the par.ty shouJd ma,k'el CIOlIltaC:t with Mr. Albert W'. Sbip,ley at the E.T.T.A. offi.Cel, 26-29' Park C~sceltlt, London WIN 4HA ('Plume: 01-580 6312).

D'epartlWel 10-20 al.m. 0111 Wednes.. day, April 19 from Liverrpool Streeit. R~tum at 7-52 p.m. onl Sunday, April 23 to Liverpool Street. Priete £22.50 includes olv'eJrland travel and 4 nights

Page 12

Mrs. Nancy Roy Evans, 198, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff, CF2 6BQ

bedj'hreakfast accommodat~ol1l at a 2­statr hOitel.

This quotation dOEIS, not include admislsiiOln to the Hall which is s:tatoo as f .10 for the finals olr f .30 for a simson tickelt. Anyone wishing to make their ow'n arl"anlg;emlenltSI for vis,lting the ChampliofJ.lsbipls, may be interested in the follolwin!g addresses::

Tickets for admission.: Mr. J. J. van D(>orn, van del" Leckestraat 15b, Rotterdam, 8, Netherlands.

A,ccommodation requests:

V.V.V. ROltteroam" Stadhoudelrsp'lein 19, Rotterda;ml, N'ettherlands.

S'TAFFORDSHIRE NOTES by John Pike

Peter Eaton returns to County table tennis . . . the draw is made for the first round of the new Club K.G. competition ... 40 pupils take their awards at Highfie.Jds. These were just three of the highlights , which added to the County Championships pro­gramme, made Staffordshire a busy place in January.

After missing last season, Peter Eaton made a welcome return to the County scene when he turned out for the second team in their away game with Warwickshire. With Rita Beebee, out through ill health, it looks like Wolverhampton's Margaret Bowyer will take her place for the rest of the season.

Nine teams entered the new Club K.O. competition and the draw resulted as follows Birmingham Road (Walsall) v. St~ke Conservatives, Biddulph v. Cambridge (Walsall), Post Office (Stone) v. Cambridge (Wolverhampton), Norton v. Walsall Wood, Bound Brook (Lichfield) Bye.

With a super league in the balance next season, I am sure a lot of interest will be shown in these cup matches, as they could well be a pointer to future plans.

As well as bronze and sil ver, some pupils took their gold awards at t~e

Highfield Centre last month and thIS must be very encouraging for Jin) Hayward and his coaches. There ,vill be a Junior Rally at Highfields on Feb. 19. Things are going well at the Joseph Leckie School over at Wal­saIl where they have now got their new tables in use.

The new centre at Stone has quickly made its mark and Ron Harvey reports 9 bronze passes at the end of their first session. Bryan Merrett will be visiting the centre next month. For a busy man, I think Staffordshire do well to see Bryan as often (} s they do.

With a little arm twisting I think the county could well have an lJm pires Secretary next season and perhaps even a few new umpires.

Next month more details will be to hand about the anniversary dinner to be held at the Mount Hotel, Wol ver­hampton, in May.

MANCHESTER & DISTRICT LEAGUE CLOSED ,FIRST MEN'S SINGLES TITLE

FOR BOASMAN by Leslie W. Johns

Tony Boasman came through from an entry of almost 150 to take his first men's singles title in the Manchester League closed championships played at the University's McDougall Centre on January 4-6.

In the semi-final he beat the holder for the past three years, Kevin Forshaw, and.,...went on to beat Brian Kean, another past holder, in the final.

Roger Hampson, one of the favou­rites for the title, unfortunately developed car trouble, and arri,:ed too late for his fourth round clash WI th Jack Clayton, but took some consola­tion by winning the men's doubles, with Kean, beating Philip Bowen and Nigel Eckersley.

Susan Lisle was outstanding in the women's events taking three titles. She beat Mary Leigh in an excellent singles final.

Two of the promising juniors, Peter Rodwell and Peter Brugge, met in the Junior final. Rodwell just had the edge to take his first title and with it the Jack Livingstone Memorial Trophy.

Jack Clayton retained the veteran singles title beating ten tinles winner Benny Casofsk y in the final.

RESULTS:

M.S., semi-final: A. Boasman bt K. Forshaw J9, ] 2; B. Kean bt P. D'Arcy 5, 13.

M.S.) Final:

BOASMAN bt Kean 14~ 20,

W.S.) semi-final: s. Lisle bt V. Asghar 9, 7; M. Leigh bt M. Dolby 15, 12.

W.S.) Final: LISLE bt Leigh 15, 20.

M.D.: R. Hampson ;' Kean bt P. Bowen /

N. Eckersley 18, 19. ~V.D. : J. Green/Lisle bt Dolby/Leigh 20, 13. X.D.: Forshaw / Lisle bt Boasman /Leigh

J4, 13· l.S. : P Rodwell bt P. Brugge, 11, 20.

V.S. : J. Clayton bt B. Casofsky 12, 19.

LANCASHIRE CLOSED After a lapse of many years, the

Lancashire Closed championships­last held in Bolton over a decade ago - make a welcome return. OTganised by the Preston and District League in conjunction with the Lanes. T.T.A., the championships will take place at the Harris T'echnical College, Corporation St., P'reston on Saturday, March 18/72.

.. O'rganising secretary is Mr. C. G. Stokes tBurn-Lea" 20 St. David'st

Road South, St. A~nes-on-Sea. FY8 1TJ. 'Phone: St. Annes 26524. Entries close on Friday, March 3 for the following events:- MS, WS, MD', WD, BS, GS, U-13 B & GS (joint event) and VS.

Page 13

A cold shiver must have run down the spine of many table tennis fanatics who read Sydney Hulls's story in the "Daily Express" on January 19th,. headed "The Three Best Buys 01 Sport" .

For those who missed i1 J Sydney quoted a fascinating proclamation by Dr. Roger Bannister, Chairman of 1he Sports Council advising local authorities that badminton, squash and bowIs were the bes1 buys in terms of cash returns.

The "worst buy" is alleged to be swimming pools. A small number of other minor sports were conspicuously l10It mentioned, among them of course, must be table tennis.

Facilities for our sport can, of course, be included in the floor space~

allocated to other sports in all the sports centres now being built or still in the planning stages.

There is some danger for tab Ie tennis in this country arising from Dr. Bannister's statement in that local authorities may now say: "It's

ONE LAW fOR THE RICH • • • provides this month's

CONTROVERSY by J 0 h n Woo d for d

our ratepayers rnoney we are spend­ing, we cannot afford to provide facilities for sports which might incur losses". I have heard of quite a few places where the hiring of tables can be profitable. Many leagues have representatives on local Sports Coun­cils and similar bodies. It is clearly their job to push the claims of table tennis continuously and provide fact ual evidence, if it can be found, that cash can be made froIn table­hire both 10 the table tennis fraternity and the general public.

1 would also suggest the E.T.T.A. ';3

Development Committee lakes a fresh look at this subject in the light of these latest recommendations by the national Sports Council, because the danger of table tennis being pushed io one side by at least two of our rival spor1s, badmintoil and sq uash, seems to have increased.

Few people would contes1 the fact that in general, the average sports­IDaIl who plays badminton and squash, probably comes from a higher income group than the average table tennis

player. It also follows that these rather more wealthy people, many from the professional classes, have lnore influence with the powers-tha1­be. An example of this is that many doctors are regular squash players~

I doubt if there are any comparable numbers of doctors who are league table tennis players, al1hough I know of several.

Even greater efforts have io be made at national, county and local levels to improve the image of table tennis, otherwise even those whose interest does not go beyond their weekly league match will find good facilities becoming TI10re and more difficult to find.

Whilst support in the Lion's Den • ••

comes from Observer Correspondent John Corser 1 should like to add SOIne support

for John Woodford's theory that to produce champions our junior players should be thrown .in at the deep end of competition with senior players.

For IDany years I have believed that separa1e junior tournaments, as run at l-H€sen1, are ultimately detri ­rDental to the development of our players. The junior tournament circuit tends to produce an elite of success­ful players who find, suddenly, that

they are eighteen and eligible only for senior events.

The most able of these, and those with the best temperaments, survive in the tougher competition. But for the others the change from the cosy atmosphere on the junior circuit, the sudden exposure after ihe limelight, proves too much.

The old system which added junior singles to senior tournaments gave en~ouragement to young players with­out 'protecting' them from the reality of senior competition. In conseq uence the transition from junior io senior was made naturally.

Undoubtedly there is a Deed for separate junior tournaments. We Inust provide competitions for the younger juniors but as they grow older the events should be combined with senior tournaments. The present set­up, like our coaching system, is calculated to lJroduce a good general standard but reduces our chances of producing champions.

Perhaps a solution which will enable us to benefit from the best of both worlds would be a system which debarred juniors from engaging in events after a certain number of successes.

What I have in nlind is that after winning, say, two under-iS singles or after reaching four semi-finals, a junior becomes automatically dis­qualified for under-IS events. This would force the more successful juniors to seek better competition. Jt would also discourage pot-hunting and give incentives to a much greater n urnber of juniors.

Thenew(Hikari' lightning rubber unit A new formula rubber with more

resilience than ever before. Exclusive to the Dunlop M'axply Fort.

It's called "Hikari", and that's]apanese for 'lightning'.

It's very well named, becauseth~]apanese discovery gives far more pow'er to your drives than you ever got from any ordinary bat.

And, because the rubber is thinner than usual, you get more play out of the sponge.:.,'\\, ". More centrol in defence. More all-round subtlety. The sponge itself is a new formula as well. We call it Silver Sponge.

Hikari rubber andSilverSponge. All new. And all exclusive to the Dunlop Maxply Fort Bat.

The Barna Super Ball is another Dunlop

Page 14

exclusive. With its improved sphericity, the ball now has a better, more consistent bounce. And every single one plays with the same feel. Plays better, and lasts longer. . When you come to think about

it, that's true of all Dunl9P's Table T~nnis equipment. The Barna

Championship Table, for instance. It's been adopted for many of theworld championships. Becau&,e it's got star

quality. It's sturdy, yet cornpactand'_ .

.' easy to store. ~ ~ ,1Z-+:fM). '~ i1 ~~ ,,+- 7'~,#¥,}.

--~~~~,,...... ~t Ijr'/~,J,~Then there's ~~ '¥/;7 ...~r~~~..#/:Iit:r:"':"'

t~e Folding Table Tennisllff1{iff *~.iTable, Ideal for school and club use. It's light, stable and gives you' absolutely uniform response.

Bat covers, nets, posts and, of course the Dllnlop Barna Clothing range.

;-~ <o-,,,,,,t;hu L__X1,,; a

"{:;y.~ ~ ~~J/ ~~ '~~

In rnore general ternlS thh~ would be doubly beneficial for it would bring much more pressure on our talented youngsters and at the same tirne, spread the valuable efforts of the junior tournament organisers luuch wider.

WARWICKSHIRE NOT'ES

Every T"ournarnent invariably pro­vides a giant-killer and the Warwick­shire 'Closed' was no exception. Just when all seemed to be heading towards predictable conclusions along came shock n urnber 1, and who better to provide it than that great character P. Glynn.

In a quarter-final match against No. 2 seed Derek Munt, Pat, after losing the first levelled and then hammered his: way to a 21-12 decider. So to the semi-final and a meeting with Ralph Gunnion, P'at just edging home by tpe narrowest of ruargins. In the final, against top seed Brian Burn, Pat fought all the way giving Brian his hardest tussle of the day before going down.

Meanwhile in the mixed doubles, Barry Hayward and Doreen Hazzard were causing all sorts of trouble. Facing number 2 seeds, "Andy" J ones and Ralph Gunnion, they edged home 7, -17, 23. And so to the final against top seeds Jenny Cornock and Brian Burn. With Doreen defending as if her life depended on it and

Barry going for everything they just" made it for the most popular victory of the day. Results such as these are the making of any tournament, but spare a thought for the unfortunate victims.

Detailed results: Mien's Sin,glesl :

S/F: B. Burn bt R. Cooper 14, 16. P. Glynn bt R. (~unnion 18, -11, 21. Final: Burn bt Glynn 17, 19. WOlmen's Singles: SIF': J. Cornock bt D. Haz­zard 8, 19. A. Jones bt M. Stewart 11, 16. Final: Cornock bt Jones 16, -10, 17. Boys' Singllesl: V-I7: S/F: E. Lasek bt N. Parry 13, 15. K. Pilgrim bt F. Lasek 12, -19, 20. Final: Pilgrim bt Lasek 19, -18, 23. Boys' Sinlglesl: V-I5: S/F: A. Cotton bt D. Johnson 12, 9. K. Pilgrim bt M. Horne 7, 11. Final: COtton bt Pilgrim 16, -19, 11. Intermediates: S/F': R. Cooper bt p. Giles 17, 15. B. Dunne bt B. Johnson 12, 17. Final: Cooperbt Dunne 14, -16, 17. Girls' Sinlgle'S: S/F: K. Ludlow bt M. Allen,5 17 . M. Williams bt H. Jennings 7, 20. Final: Williams bt Ludlow 9, 13. Men's Doubles:: Final: Burn/Cooper bt Munt/Hayward 5, 17. Wom;en's Doubtesl Final: Jon,esl/Comock bt:

Stewart/Dicks 10, l8. Mixed Doubles: Final: Hazzard/Haiyward bt Cornock Burn 20, 19. Junior Doubles: Final: Las:ek/Lasek bt Cotton/Pilgrim i 7, -11, 13.

Congratulat1 ons to Derek Munt on regaining a place in the latest England rankings, coming in at No. 16. Bir­mingham's trio of Munt, Cooper and Glynn advanced to the next stage of the Wilmott Cup with a 7-2 victory over Leicester.

The Nuneaton Championships held recently was not without its shock results notably the first round defeat of the holder T. Ford by D. Weaver. Results Handicap Singles: E. Smith (Stocking­

ford Congs.) bt R. Jenkins (Nun­eaton Boys Club) -17, 10, 13.

Veteran Singles.: R. Garland C

(oventry Road) bt I. Gaseley (Courtaulds) -15, 14, 17.

Mixed Doubles: Smith and Mrs. E. Higgs (Stockingford Congs.) bt H. Banks (Bedworth Labour) and Mrs. H. Coles (Courtaulds) 19, 20.

Junior Singles: P. Dawson (MIRA) bt B. Wright (MIRA) 9, 18.

Open Doubles: Jenkins and N. Huner (Boys Club) holders bt A. Harrold (Courtaulds) and Banks 13, 18.

Ladies' Singles: Mrs. M. Stewart (C t ld) h ld b M H'

our au s 0 er t rs. IggS13, 16.

()pen Singles: J. Iliffe (Glamour Girl) holder bt Jenkins 15, -20, 17.

SOUTH-EAS,T MIDLA,NDS

LEAGUE CHATTER by LesUe Constable

In the Men's Section, Hunts. Central at present head the division but Northampton, Cambridge, Bed­ford and Ely are all locked together in a bid for the Championship. Northampton' s victory over Cam­bridge City was a setback for the

bridge are still in with a good chance'. In the J unioT Section, Bletchley

are striding ahead by leaps and bounds and already have the Cham­pionship in their grasp, although North Herts. and Cambridge could overtake them. In the Ladies' Section, North Herts. head the table with a clean sheet with B~dford the only other team in a similar position. In the Veterans' Section, Bedford and Cambridge are both unbeaten, with the 10rmer team having a slightly better sets average.

Leading positions:­Men

p w n' LPts Hunts. Central ......... 8 3 2 3 45 Northampton ............ 5 5 0 0 41 Cambridg,e ................. 5 4 0 1 38 Bedford .................... 5 4 0 1 35 Ely ····· ....... ···.'....te·······. 4 4 0 0 34 Bletchley .................... 7 4 0 3 34

Juniors P W D' LPts

Bletchley . 7 7 0 0 59 Hunts. Central . 7 3 0 4 36 Wellingborough .. 7 3 2 2 35 Cambridge .. 5 4 0 1 32 Ely . 5 2 1 2 28 Bedford . 5 3 ° 2 27

Women P W I) LPts

North Herts. 3 3 0 0 26 Hunts. emltral 4 2 1 1 25 Wellingborough 6 2 1 3 25

Veterans P W D L Pts

Bedford 4 4 0 0 34 Cambridge 01.... 4 4 0 0 "31

latter team, but despite this Cam-I Northampton 3 2 0 1 21

Whatever you choose, with Dunlop, you know you get the best.

Barna Super balls are being adopted more and more for Championships

all over the world.

It all ~,"I"""""".~~ from caring about the game to put a little extra into everything we make. enough to go out and something that makes it better.So you can get something more out of it.

~DVN£OP Table tennis is ourgame.

Page 15

The English Closed Championships (8 enior)

Breakthrough for Trevor Retention by Karenza

SO TREVOR TAYLOR and player in the highest class of English KARENZA MATHEWS are the new table tennis; he stood up to the table champions of England! Taylor has to force the young prodigy into all been on the edge of great things for sorts of errors and even continued his some time. The fact that Chester accurate hitting from further back, Barnes was not at Crystal Palace to winning the necessary 63 points at a contest the issue is, I feel, outweighed ratio of nearly 3 to 1 with almost non­by the fact that the former Hertford­ chalant ease. shire lad overcame his greatest adver­ Karenza Mathews fought off a very sary Denis Neale in the semi-finals. strong challenge frOlll Lesley Radford

Karenza fought herself almost to a in the women's final. Lesley, always a standstill for her wonderful victory. great fighter, is now playing some of She overcalne very stiff challenges at the best table tennis of her career. nearly "every hurdle. Her dedication Her reward in this tournament was a and control are truly world-class. At great run to the final and a week later, times she reminded me of a Stiga the NO.3 spot in the women's ranking robot-in the nicest possible way! list. Lesley established a lead of 2-1 Never flinching in her gallle of con­ and j t was on ly another great effort by tinuous flowing attack, just going on Karenza that gained her the last two and on taking the game to her games and the crown for the second opponent, piling on the speed and the time. Karenza's nlost wanted prize top-spin until she reached the required was in the new rankings, the No. 1 nUlnber of points. spot - hard-earned indeed from Jill

Hanllllersley.I disagree slightly with Geoffrey Harrower (Daily Telegraph) on a The nlen's doubles final, often the paint he made on the women's final. star-turn, proved to be a disappoint­He said that Lesley Radford's tactics ment, despite hall-commentator Albert were designed to break up her oppo­ Shipley'S forecast that the match would nent's game. True, but surely the aim be a close one. DENIS NEALE and of every player should be identical in ALAN HYDES neatly demolished this respect? However, a debatable Trevor Taylor and Eric Coster on a point. "sliding-scale" score 14, 13, 10.

In the "Table Tennis New Year's KARENZA and JILL, as our two Honours List", known officially as the top-ranked players should of course, "Senior Ranking List for Open have made similar light work of. the Tournaments" but always to all sports women's doubles final over Lesley journalists as THE ENGLAND Radford and Diane Simpson but it RANKING LIST, both Trevor and took them right up to 21-14 in the Karenza gained their rewards fifth to clinch it, further proof of how Trevor up to NO.2 and Karenza back well Lesley was playing and that she again to No. 1. Taking this tourna­ was getting fine backing from her ment into account, the verdict of partner.placing Neale at No. lover Taylor Miss Sirnpson is proving a strongmust have been a narrow one. The

doubles pl~yer this season. She alsodecision to drop the absent Barnes to reached the final of the mixed doublesNo. 3 must also have been a difficult partnered by the ever-fiery Mike one, but bears out a pet theory of Johns but they fqund DENIS NEALEmine that when a gathering meets to and KARENZA a little beyond themvote, be it an A.G.M. or the highest and lost in three-straight. This victoryselection committee, the person to get in the mixed completed a highly suc­the chop is so often the absentee. cessful triple for Karenza - further

FINALS proof of her determination and stamina which must have been at aAs sure, as I am that gallant young low ebb as she was in bed with aD,avid Alderson would have had heavy cold earlie.t; that ,veek and con­tro'uble getting through the top half sequently nose-blowing continuouslyof the draw had Chester Barnes bee:n throughout the two days-few playerspresent, the threat that he would would win three titles in those cir­come un-stuck against Trevor Taylor CUlllstances.in the final was obvious to' most

p,e:o'ple at the Palace. EARLY SHOCKS Alderson looked, and must have felt, Glancing back at the earlier rounds

a lonely figure as he moved out to of the singles: The first eyebrow­take on Taylor under the glare of the lifter, when I reached the scene on thetelevision arc lights - what an ordeal Friday, was the defeat of Tony Claytonfor a 14-year-old! 'Taylor, now resi­ by Derek l\1unt, by 12, 14, ]7! Claytonden t on '];eesside and a leading "did the flyer" last year at Canterburyrnember of the exalted Ormesby club, it will be recalled, but this time itcould have hardly believed that only was David Alderson's turn. Thethis talented, but inexperienced, lad Ormesby schoolboy's first major scalpstood between him and the coveted was that of Brian Burn, no less -8,title. ]8, 18, -15, 13 taking him to Round 3

All 'raylor had to do was to Inake where Brian Johns stood between him sure that he didn't allow the young­ and a crack at "Connie" Warren. It ster's impressive attack to dominate. took four games for Alderson to sub­The former Hertfordshire ace now due young Johns bu t the crowds were looks the most accurate and steady beginning" to gather round the

Page 16

by John Woodford

Kafjwza Mathelws (Middtese~x) who retained he~r women's singles t:tle in the 1971-72 English Oosed.

OTlnesby lad's gaInes and the Cheshire journies in the history of our garue-­jun ior Inust have felt he was playing Alan lost at 15 in the fourth set to around 200 people at the same time. Ransome and subsequently lost his No.

4 England ranking, slipping to No.8!Sussex got a tiny look-in when Roger Life has bi tter motnents for us all; this

Chandler (in Round 1) put out David one lllUSt have been particularly chok­Brown (Essex) 16, 8, 19, but then the ing for Alan - his excellent tempera­almost all-conquering Ormesby clan lllent never displayed his disappoint­got cracking. Alan Ransome stopped 11len t, to his everlasting credit.Chandler at ]3 in the fourth whilst Hydes stopped Mike John'S challenge WOMEN'S EARLY ROUNDS at 14. also in the fourth. The Whatever happened to so-and-so? ~.Cheshire man, currently playing for

is an often-repeated question. As th~Bolton in the Coca-Cola trophy, needed some recognising having results that follow this story are from gained a 1110P of long' hair',' spectacl~s Round 3 onwards, I will try and pick and a stone or so in weight since I out the tit-bits that happened on that saw hinl last. But, having pierced his Friday."disguise", there was no mistaking his style of play - as strong and as un­ The new England NO.4, Linda comprotnising as ever. "L,es" Haslanl Howard, had a titanic struggle in and Nicky Jarvis both got to the Round 2 with Susan Lisle, losing the quarters. The Janlaican giant fell there first two and winning at 14 in the

fifth. Lesley Radford was nearly takento Taylor (nearly five ganles); Jarvis went down in 3 to Neale. to five by Suzanna Kavallierou (Sussex)

and then had little trouble with Alan Hydes, believe:'it-or-not, carne Shelagh Hession now happily recovered

all the way froIII his special table fronl that car accident on January 1,

tennis training in Japan to play in 1971 travelling to last year's English this tournament and could soon be Closed at Canterbury. Linda Bash­departing for China! Regrettably, it ford (Yorks.) was a notable absentee seems this bit of globe-trotting was which allowed l\fiss Hession some one of the nl0st unfortunate, abortive progress.

In the bottom half of the draw, Judy Williams (now England No.6), advanced via Joyce Ellis (Kent), and Kath Perry before hitting strong oppo­sition in Diane Simpson. The Essex girl, who seems to have made further inlprovement this season, took the first two games fronl the Sussex NO.1, but ran out of steam to lose at 10 in the fifth. Sue Howard was involved in two trelnendous battles, first with Judy Heaps which the Surrey girl ~on at ~2-20 in the fourth and then In the quarters with Karenza Mathews who canle through at 19 in the fourth.

J,anelt Hellaby, the ne,w EngHsh junior champion, made quite a fight of her game with Karenza (losing at 14 fourth game) and it looks as though when Janet realises she can­not hit everyone clean off the tab!e, she will be an even greater p,rospect than she is no'w.

The England title is still eluding Jill Hammersley after a nUluber of attempts. Seeded No. 1 this time, she always seems to find one of the older established players playing well enough to beat her. This is a great pi ty in a way because really England needs at least four women on the edge of world-class with time to improve. Karenza and Jill fill the bill on their own at this juncture; how badly we need two players like Linda Howard and Janet Hellaby to join them.

DOUBLES A quick glance through the men's

doubles scoresheets shows that in the top half Eric Coster did well with Trevor Taylor and similarly Laurie Landry showed his determination once again with a fine run partnered by Tony Clayton. Landry jClayton ran through Beamish/Munt, Hellaby / Bowles and JemmettjBloomfield, at 19 in the fifth, before they came unstuck in the semis against Coster/Taylor.

In the bottom half, "Les" Haslam

and Mike Johns ploughed through some choppy seas to the semis wi th a great win in the quarters over Jarvis / Ransome. In the bottom quarter it was all Neale/Hydes of course, but Michael Harper and Brian Johns ran quickly through their programme until their meeting with the winners.

The WOlnen's doubles was notable for the fact that the four seeded pairs all reached the senli-finals - Mathews/ Halnmersley, Howard / Howard, Radford / Sinlpson and Willianls / Hession. l-'he Howard sisters gave the winners a great run in their senli-final, but the challenge petered out at 11 in the fifth. The Essex pair, Radford/ Sinlpson, '-showed how very well they were performing in stopping Judy Williams and Miss Hession and, of course again in the final, it took Karen~a ~nd Jill five sets to subdue the ESSeX challenge.

In th e mixed it is not easy to spot an ou tstanding performance because ag'ain, the four seeded pairs reach their aBoted places in the semis, but the youngest pair in the quarters were Ian Roberton and Janet Hellaby who ac­counted for Barry Hill/Linda Howard and then feB to Judy Williams and Sanl Ogundipe.

Results: Men's Singlesl: Round 3: C. Warr'en (Surrey) bt J. Kitchener (Suffo'lk)

18, 22, 17; D. Alderson (Yo'rks.) bt B. Johns (Ches.)

15, 11, ~15, 20; A. Ransome (Yo'rks.) bt D. Munt (Wa.rwks.)

H:. 19. 14; A. Hydes (Yorks.) bt M. Johns (Ches.)

17, 10, ~20, 14; T. Taylor (Essex) bt E. Coster (M'iddx.)

4, 8. 11; O. Haslam (Middx.) bt R. Cooper (Warwks.)

~18, 11, ~14, 9, 18; N. Jarvis (Yo'rks.) bt C. Morris (Kent)

9, 9. 11; D. Neale (Yorks.) bt P. Taylor (Beds.)

16, -13" 12, 21. Quarter..finals: Alderson bt Warren 15, 20, ~16, ~15, 18; Ransome bt Hydes 18, ~14, 13, 15;

Les.ley Radfo'rd (Essex), the defeated wo,men's singles finalist. -Photo' by Cliff Darley.

Taylor bt Haslam ~20, 16, 15, 19; Neale bt Jarvis 12, 21, 9. SemS. ..finals: ALDERSON bt Ransome 17, ~16, 18, 10; TAYLOR bt Neale ~13, 12, 17, ~13, 19. Finah TAYLOR bt Alderson 7, 12, 7. Women's Singles: RoUllid 2: J. Hammersley (Bucks.) bt A. Pain~er

(Middx.) 9. 5, 14'; L. Howard (Su.rrey) bt S. Lisle (Lanes,)

-10, ~15, 17, 19, 14; L. Radford (Essex) bt M. Green (Midl'x.)

7, 8, 10; S. Hession (Essex) bt J. List (Suffolk) 9,

10, 10;1. Williams (Sussex) bt K. Perry (Staffs,)

19, 17. 11; D. Simpson (Essex) bt J. Taylor (Berks,)

15, 12. 17; S. Howard (Surrey) bt J. Heaps (Ches.)

18, 13, ~20, 22; K. Mathews· (Middx.) bt J. Hellaby (Essex)

12, ~14, 13, 14. Quarter..finals: Hammersley bt L. Howard 13, 10. 13; Radford bt Hession 6, ~17, 14, 10; Williams bt Simpson ~18, ~1 1, 16. 18, 10; Mathews bt S. Howard 11, 12, ~20, 19. Semi...fin.alsr: RADFO'RD bt Hammersley 19, -14. 17, 17; MATHEWS bt Williams 16, ~16. 13. 20. Final: MATHEWS bt Radford ~13, 16. -18, 10, 13. Men's Doubles: Quarter..fina.ls: Coster/To Taylor bt T. Adams (Kent)/C.

Pickard (Essex) 16, 11, 13; A. Clayton ,(Yorks.)/L. Landry (Middx.) bt

G, Blomfield (Essex)/D. Jemmett (Middx.) 9, 17. 8,;

Haslam/M. Johns bt JarVis/Ransome 15, 15. ~16. 18;

Hydes/Neale bt M. Harper (Herts. )/B. Johns (Ches.) 16, 11, 16.

Semi..finals: COSTER/TAYLOR bt Clayton/Landry 18,

13. ~10, 17; YYDES/NEALE bt Haslam/Johns 10, 13. 15. FInal: tIYDES/NEALE bt Coster/Taylor 14. 13, 10. Women's Doub~les: Quarter..finals: Hammers~ey/Mathews bt C. Reeves/J Taylor

(Berks.) 16, 19, 14: Howard/Howard bt B. Bird (Kent) /Hellaby

19, 21, -18, 20; Radford/Simpson bt E. Tarten/G. Taylor

(Essex 20, 17, 8; Hession/Williams bt Heaps/Lisle 17, 16, 15. Semi-finals: HA.MMERSLEY/MATHEWS bt Howard/

Howard ~17, 15, 18, -18, 11; RADFORD/S~MPSON bt Hession/Williams,

14, 10, 17. Final: HAMMERSLEY/MATHEWS bt Radford/

Simpson 19, 10, ~19, ~11, 14. Mixed Doublest Quarter'..finals:: Neale/Mathews bt Clayton/Perry 15, 15, 13; S. Ogundipe (Sussex)/Williams bt I. Robert­

son (Surrey)/Hellaby 7, ~12. 9. 12; M Johns/Simpson bt Has1am/S. Howard ~17,

-15, 10, 19, 16; Taylor/Hammersley bt K. Beamish (Essex)/

Hession 18, 18, -17, 17. Semil..finals l:

NEA.LE/MATHEWS bt Ogundipe/Williams 12, 11, 18;

JOHNS/SIMPSON bt Taylor/Hammersley ~10, 18, ~16, 17, 16.

Fin'a1: NEALE/MATHEWS bt Johns/Simpson 13,

10. 16.

Determination is writte'n into, the express.ions o,f the left-handed Alan Hydes and Oenis Neale (Yorkshire) on the!ir way to regaining the men's doubles title, previously held in seasons 1968/69 and 1969/70, but not defended at Crystal Palace by Chester Barnes and Trevor Taylor afte:r v~ctory at Canterbury.

-Photo' by Cliff Darley.

VENUE COMMENT .. ,.

My view that the Crystal Palace National Spo,rts Centre is ,an almost ideal venue for the English Closed sentor and junio,r tournaments is shared by many peo1ple. I find the atmos,phere' is just right. Players feel they a:e playing in a natio'nal event. The men's singles entry of 120' was nearly double the prev:ous year's total and also double that of two years ago, the time when it was taken to Teesside.

I believe the idea of com­bining the senior and iunio,r events is a good one, but I am sure on ano,ther occasion it would be wise to make some sort o,f combined and printed progr:amme, even if the junior schedules and draw were a duplicated insert. It was not until thel Saturday morning that I discovered when the junio·r events we,re to, take place. Everyo,ne was fasci­nated to see how David Alders,on was drawn on the Sunday, but fe,w found out until the day. No doubt, more liaison and co-operat 'on between the two organising co'mmittees w:1I be possible in future.

JUBILANT ORMESBY This report would not be

co,mplete without a word in praise of the Ormesby club and its "supremo" Alan R.ans,ome. Stretching its wings a little' to include Trevor Taylor, '(he c~ub

had five players in the quarter­finals of the men's sing~esl Only Warren and fHaslam rep­resented the South. Great progress is being made at Ormesby with the:r juniors, some of which I am to!d can be put down to the films, ~taken in Japan by Alan at the I,ast World Championships, of '~he Oriental players. A lar'g8' part of the successes are' due I am sure, to the dynamic enthu­siasm of Alan Ransome him­self.

Page 17

The English (Iosed (hampionships (Junior)

FIRST TIME TRIUMPHS FOR JANET AND SIMON

by BRIAN D. WRIGHT

The 3rd' English Junior Closed Championships at Crystal Palace on January 8/9 followed on the pattern set by the Senior Closed Champion­ships the previous day, with many shock results culminating in the first­tinle tria:rnphs for JANET HELLABY in the girls' singles and SIMON HEAPS in the boys' event.

At \ the start of the championships,' the main interest was centred around the two favourites and top seeds, Linda Howard and Peter Taylor, and, espe­cially, young' David Alderson from Teesside to see if he could capitalise on his brilliant form in reaching the final in the senior closed. Ho,vever, reaction appeared to be rather a burden for David and after struggling against Taylor (Warwks.) 'and Morris (Herts.) in Rounds 3 and 4, he bowed out to the ilnproving No. 6 seed Desmond Douglas in an exciting quarter-final after holding' tHatch pain ts in the deciding game.

Meanwhile, in the saIne half, Peter Taylor was cruising through to the senIi-final only dropping one gallIe in the process to the new Cambridgeshire hope Paul Day. An easy victory fol­lowed over Douglas, who appeared meslnerised by Peter's backhand and change of speed. DesnIond was hardly recognisable as the same player who had beaten Alderson and seems to find playing Taylor luore di~cult than any of the other junior boys.

FEW SURPRISES

In the bottom half of the draw there were few surprises with the two seeds, Silnon Heaps and Ian Horsham, corning coming through to cOlubat the semi-final with Siluon winning an extremely fluctu~ting set, overcoming an 18-20 deficit in the third game, to take hinl to the final.

Although both players reached their allotted posi tions neither caine through untroubled. In fact, Horsham was extremely fortunate to get away with a very indifferent display against Mark 'Mitchell before scraping home 21-18 in the decider. Heaps also had problems in the first two gaInes against Brian Alderson (David's older brother) and after sharing two close gaInes 21-18, 27-29 romped away to a 10-0 lead at the change of ends and kept up the pressure to eventually win 21-7.

Amongst the surprises in the early rounds were the dismissal of Robert Wiley (Yorks.) by Somerset's Michael WillianIs and the third round loss by No. 8 seed Brian Johns (Ches.) to Jeffrey N'ix. '~Andy" Barden and Day continued their never ending saga in their personal "mighty midgets" contest with Paul winning at 19 in the third in Round 3.

The final produced a high standard of table tennis with Heaps having little difficulty in controlling Taylor's notorious backhand and finally winning', 18, in the decider after fighting off two match points against

Page 18

him in the 5econd game. Simon appeared to regain the determination and bite which has been missing fron1 his gan1e since early season to quench the bid by Peter to complete a unique fallIily double by following his brother, Trevor, to the path of English Cham­pion, in the sa~le weekend.

SPRINGBOARD

If Peter Taylor was the favourite to win the boys' singles, then Linda Howard was the form books certainty to retain her title in the girls' event. Moreso after her remarkable series of wins over Karenza Mathews, Jill Hammersley, Lesley Radford and Judy WillianJs in recent months.

Ho'wever, a relatively unkno,wn 14­years-old from Ches,terfie!ld, Derby­shire, Mandy Me:llor by name, used these cham.pionships as a spring­b01ard to greater things by first ousting No.7 seed, Anita Stevenson (Leics.) in Round 2 and then cre'ating the biggest shock of the champio1n­ships, in beating Linda 19, 20 in the quarters.

Although Linda was unusually ten­tative, all credit must be given to the victor especially in playing so well in tight situations. The semi-final was easy by conlparison with a two-straight victory over an out-of-touch and un­convincing Judith Walker, the No. 4 seed.

The shocks were confined to the top half, for both Janet Hellaby and Karen Rogers reached their expected semi-final positions. The only blemish on a two-straigh t record was a game dropped by Karen to Surrey's new prospect Susan Tan1e. In the semi­final, the lack of mobili ty and lllove­ment on Karen's part proved decisive.

'1'he final was won by the greater experience of Janet Hellaby but not without a struggle. The vital points were at 19-17 to Mandy in the first ganle when she missed two relatively silllple services and luade two more lllistakes to give both the first game and the edge of confidence away. The second gallIe was won in an easier fashion and gave Janet her first English, title without the loss of a galne.

DOUBLES The doubles events were won by

the regular partnerships of Heaps/ Taylor, Howard/Hellaby and Hor­sham/Howard without any of the top-seeded pairs being pressed to raise their games at any stages. The major upset occurred in the boys' doubles, where the partnership of the 12-year­olds, Barden and Day, proved too strong for the No.3 seeds and York­senior champions, David Alderson and' Tony Martin.

Cathy Stonell and Karen Mashford also surprised the Leicestershire pair Stevenson and Rogers, the No. 2 seeds, in Round 2 to win in straight games. Results: ­Boys' Singles: Roun,d 4: p. Taylor (Beds.) bt P. Day (Camhs.) 13,

-19, 13; D. Dino-Smith (Kent) bt S. Preston (Middx.)

11. 20; ,1·0. l~uglas (Warwks.) bt R. Huson (Middx.)

15, -16, 16; D. Alderson (Yorks.) bt R. Morris (Herts.)

23" 10; I. Horsham (Essex) bt M. Mitchell (Middx.)

13, -20, 18; D. Parker (Lanes.) bt G. Hardin~ (Berks.)

10. 10; 1. Nix (Warwks.) bt B. Skuse (NoHs.) 13.

16; S. Heaps (Ches.) bt A. Mitchell (Kent) 12.

~13, 17. Quarter~finals: Taylor ht Din~-Smith 12, 13; Douglas bt Alderson 13. ~16. 22; Horsham bt Parker 16, 10; Heaps bt Nix 12, 11. Semi·finals: TAYLOR bt Douglas 12. 13; HEAPS b'

Horsham -17. 16. 20. Final: HEAPS bt Taylor -18, 21. 18. Girls' Singles: Round 3: L. Howard (Surrey) bt B. Kirkman (Lanes.)

16. 12; M. Mellor (Derbys.) bt D. St Ledger

(Warwks.) 12, 17; E. Tarten (Essex) bt C. Stonell (Essex)

15, 6; J. Walker (Yorks.) bt A. Mitchell (Middx.)

13, -12, 12; K. Rogers (Leics.) bt E. Swan (Cambs.)

16. 12; G. Locke (Essex) bt J. Green (Ches.) 18,

19; B. Williams (Lanes.) bt G. T~or (Essex)

14. -20, 22; J.l~ellabY (Essex) bt N. Leslie (Surrey) 15,

Qua;ter*finaJs: Mellor bt Howard 19, 20; Walker bt Tarten

-20. 16, 18; Rogers bt Locke 15. 19; Hellaby bt Williams

15. 18. Semi*finals: MELLOR bt Walker 16, 8; HELLABY 1

Rogers 7, 20, Final: HELLABY bt Mellor 19. 15. Boys' D clubles: Quarte,r-finals: HeapslTaylor bt D. Harding/A. Martell

(Surrey) 16. 12; Doug las/J. Kitchener (Suffolk) bt G. Keers

(Notts.)/Skuse 9. 11; M. Bawden (Essex)/B. Johns (Ches.) bt D.

~~;ulter (Essex) IS. Rowe (Staffs.) *20, 10,

Horsham/P. Hunt (Essex) bt I Noble/R. Wiley (Yorks.) -12. 14. 17.

Semi*finalsl: HEAPS/TAYLOR bt Douglas/Kitchener 15.

-20, 15; BAWDEN/JOHNS bt Ho'rsham/Hunt 21, 12. Final: HEAP'S/TAYLOR bt Bawden/Johns 15, 18. Girb' DoubleS': Quarter*finals:: Hellaby/Howard bt J. Hartwell (l'vliddx.)/

Locke 13, 16; Green/Walker bt A. WilsonlJ. Wilson

(Somerset) -19, 11, 19; Tarten/Taylor bt Kirkman/Williams 9, -19.

19; K. M,ashford (Berks.) /Stonell bt p. Clements

(Yo'rks.)/Mellor 15, 15 Semi,*fina Is: . HELLABY/HOWARD bt Green/Walker 13.

16; TARTEN/TAYLOR bt Mashford/Stonell 15,

15. Final: HELLABY/HOWARD bt Tarten/Taylor 18,

19. Mixed Doubles: Quarter*finals.: Heaps/Hellaby bt M. Wright (Yorks.)/Tarten

-16, 12, 15; D. Tan (Middx.)/Stonell bt P. Dadswell

(Kent)/S. Harper (Berks.) 18. 15; Taylor/Walker bt Johns/Green 9, 16; Horsham/Howard bt Harding/C. Reeves

(Berks.) 13. -19, 13. Semt·finals: HEAPS/HELLABY bt Tan/Stonell 9, 19; H?9~S~AM/HOWARD bt Tay~or/Wa~ker

Final: . HORSHAM/HOWARD bt Heaps/Hellaby

17. 16.

ESSEX NOl'ES by Alan Shepherd

,Following his triunlphs at the Nissen Invitation Tournament, where he disposed of Denis Neale in straight games, and at the Middlesex Open, where he demolished County No. 2

Trevor Taylor, Chester Barnes has been ranked No. 3 behind these defeated opponents by the England Selectors. How strange! Unfortunately Chester was struck down by illness in mid January, ~nd had to miss the English Closed, and it seems likely at

the time of wntlng that he will miss the County matches against Surrey and Middlesex. The County will now have to dig into its aluple reserves of top class players.

In January 1951 the Essex teanl against Middlese~ (who fielded Victor Barna!) included a youthful Bobby Stevens. The same Stevens is a 'probable' for the corresponding match in 1972 ~ twenty-one years after! It is '! great tribute to the Essex Captain's suprelue htness and zest for the ganle that he is still at the top after so long.

At the tunl of the year our six County teams are all unbeaten and we hope to retain the Premier, Second Division and Junior Division East ti tIes, win back the Junior Premier title, and capture the Veterans Cham­pionship for the first time!

Because of a clash with our match against Surrey on 22nd January 1972 the Essex Open, fixed for that date and the following day has been post­poned until the 15/16 April, 1972 at Brays Grove School at Harlow. This year we will have individual table lighting and w.e. are changing to Nittaku balls and Jaques tables. If anyone requires entry forms they should contact Jim Gaulnlon at 258 LiInes Avenue, Chigwell. The closing date for entries is March 29th, 1972.

Finally we have some romantic news. County NO.3 David Brown is getting married on 26th February, 1972 to the glamorous Hazel Parmenter, daughter of East London League Official Ron Parnlenter. We would like to con­gratulate Hazel and David and wish them every success and happiness in their future life together.

HUNTINGD'ON & PET'ERBRO' NOT'ES

by David Obee

With the postponement of the county match against Norfolk this has been a quiet month in county circles, but all three member leagues are fully occupied with South-East Midlands league matches.

Peterborough are competing in the Men's, Ladies', Junior and Veterans' divisions whilst Hunts Central and St. Neots are tackling the Reserve division as well.

As at Dec. 31, Hunts. Central were heading the Men's division, but having played three matches more than their closest rivals this position flatters them. They were also in second spot in the Ladies' and Junior divisions. In the latter Tim Speller continues to improve, and boasts one of the best records in the league.

St. Neots' ladies' have scored at the time of writing two impressive wins but in all other sections are struggling against strong opposition. Peterborough too are finding the going tough and only the ladies' look like finishing in a reasonable position in the table.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

John C. McKim, lIon. Secretary of the Lancashire and Cheshire Table Tennis Associations, and National Councillor for Cheshire, will have a new address as from F'eb 11. It is: ­52 P'aignton Road, Li~erpool. L16 4P'W. (Phone: 051-722 7412).

by Geoff Ryan

TREMENDOUS BOOST 1972 has opened with a bang for

Guildford's 16-year-old starlet Linda Howard. She has bounced back into the Senior England rankings at the lofty height of No.4, headed only by Karenza Mathews, Jill Hammersley and Lesley Radford. P'reviously at No. 9 she was dropped altogether following the last re-ranking. This is a tremendous boost coming on top of her selection for England in the Rumanian and the Czechoslovakian Open championships.

At the same time the selectors have perhaps been a little unfair on Susan Howard who is playing as well as ever and reached the quarter-finals of the women's singles at the English Closed losing to the eventual winner, new No. 1 Karenza Mathews.

In the men's singles, "Connie" Warren reached the quarters before losing to surprise packet David Alderson, "Connie" also climbed two places in the National list.

Following the County re-ranking trials at Stockwell, the top twelve men now reads: 1. "Connie" Warren, 2. Firoz Nilam, 3. Ron Penfold, 4. Barry Hill, 5. Paul Beck, 6. Chris Strathearn, 7. Gordon Chapman, 8. pave Wellsman, 9. Paul Bishop, 10. Peter Brennan, 11. Andrew Schooler, 12. Derek Holman. Womien: 1. Linda Howard, 2. Sue Howard, 3. Joan Warren, 4. Jean Head, 5. Ruth Miles, 6. Anne Tyrrell, 7. Jean Ingerfield, 8. Nicolette Leslie.

The team selected for the Essex match: Warren, Nilam, Penfold and Sue Howard were hoping to pick up some points in an effort to stave off relegation fears. F'iroz, at No.2, has a heavy cross to bear and it is hoped Ron will sort out his equipment problem and bounce back to the sort of form that made him nurnber one in the county last season. Barry Hill is retained for doubles, a shrewd move that could pay dividends in the coming months.

The County closed due at Guild­ford on Jan. 29/30 unfortunately clashed with the Kent Open thereby robbing the event of some of the top players. A full report in next Inonth's issue.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE NOTES

by Leslie Constable

In the South-East rvfidlands League, Canlbridge City had a set-back against Northampton in losing 4-6, although they had a weakened teanl with two top players absent. Ely, too, are playing well and so far have a very impressive record.

Cambridge City Juniors had a severe set-back by losing 1-9 to Northampton, but here again they had a weakened lealll whicll did not have a chance against strong opposition and so spoiled the City'S chances of winning the division. Cambridge City Veterans are well placed in the League and only have BC'dford as serious rivals after their victory over Northanlpton.

Paul Day lost in his first V-17 Open Boys' Singles final, at Southend, to Robert Aldrich (England NO.7 Junior)

-17, -17. In the semi-final he defeated England No. 11 Junior Andy Mitchell of Kent and, in the same Champion­ships, Chris Fuller and Gerald Cote­man won through three rounds of the Men's Doubles before being beaten by Chester Barnes and Trevor Taylor in three-an extremely good performance.

While nlost players were having two weeks rest at Christmas, Paul Day was pursuing his bid for further honours in the Yorkshire Junior Open at Hull. He picked up three titles, beating his old rival Andrew Barden of Middlesex in the U-13 Singles and teaming up with the same player to win the U-15 Doubles. In the U-17 mixed he was partnered by Elaine Tarten of Essex and, in the final, beat Ian Horsham and Karen Rogers who are ranked No.

(} in their respective lists - a great victory for the Soham player.

In the English Junior Closed, Paul reached the last sixteen before losing to England NO.1, Peter Taylor in three. Judging by these performances you will see that table-tennis is Paul's entire life!

In the Cambs. League, University Press are setting the pace with New Chesterton Institute in close atten­dance. The two Impington teams are at the bottom of the division and look like having to fight hard to avoid relegation. Press II have a good lead in Division II, with Telephones I also well placed.

John Thurston inflicted t~e first ISchool. David also successfully runs defeat on young Paul Day In the the six-division Inter-Schools' League.

rnDooo_qUO.

& Sons Lt.d•.\

League when playing for N .C.1. against Soham II. Day beat Stephen Andrews in this match, but N.C.1. won the match 7-3·

In the Cambs. Schools' Sports Asso­ciation League, Perse head the girls U-13 and V-17 divisions and Cambs. High School the V-15 Division. Perse head the Boys V- 17 Division - all these teams having clean records.

David Jarvis has been coaching youngsters at the tenlporary Y.M.C.A. Headquarters at St. Luke's Hall, there being many up-and-coming teenagers, including Nigel Gawthrop and Neil Constable ot the Granlmar School, also three Pearson brothers of Perse

Jaques first lilakers of T.T. equipment, and still THE specialists.

Tables Again chosen exclusively by the ETTA for all major events this season. Look out for the new patented all-purpose folding Table, the'Auto-Fold'. Folds face-to-face, protecting the playing surface. Built in wheels for easy movement by one person.

Bats NEW. The "Karenza". A great bat as used by Karenza Mathews. Also the· popular 'Denis Neale' and others in the 'Super-championship' range.

Shoes The 'Den.is Neale' Super-lightweight shoe with real leather uppers and n,on-slip sole.

Like the best-ask for JAQUES. 361, Whitehorse Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey. CR4 8XP. Tel: 01-684 4242.

r

Page 19

Warwickshire Schools lead the way

by PE.NHOLDER

According to information supplied by nlember Associations the total number of schools eULbraced by the English Schools' Table Tennis Asso­ciation is now above 750.

C?~pared with last season's statistICS this figure represents an increase of more than 20 per cent. and is most encouraging.

WARWICKSHIRE (72 schools) top the "charts" with MIDDLESEX's total of 71 likely to be increased. The twin Associations in ESSEX however, muster 73 due to an increast of 12 in the METROPOLITAN area.

No less than 23 counties are able to improve upon or sustain previous totals with the most significant in­creases being in STAFFORDSHIRE, doubled to 40 schools, HUNTING­DONSHIRE and PETERBOROUGH (newly-formed), BERKSHIRE, COiRN­WALL, DEVON and WORCESTER­SHIRE.

On the debit side the nlost surpris­ing and disappointing losses are in LANCASHIRE whose total is 33.

It is pleasing to note signs of increased activity in NOITTINGHAM­SHIRE but there is Iittle progress evident from DORSET, GLOUCES­TERSHIRE, LEICESTERSHIRE, NOR T HAM P T 0 1 N S H IRE, RUTLAND, SHROPSHIRE and WILTSHIRE in which counties there is not a single school affiliated.

NATIONAL SCHOOL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

A record total of 174 teams have qualified through local and county competitions for the nine Area Finals which should be complete by the time these notes appear in print. The probable total number of teams in· volved is above the thousand mark.

The winners from each Area qualify for one of three Regional Finals which will provide the entries for the National Finals in March.

AREA FINALS RESULTS: AREA 4:

The non-appearance of no less than six teams - four from W orcestershire and two from Herefordshire meant that only three matches were played at Birmingham on January ]S.

WARWICKSHIRE schools made it a "clean sweep" and send seven teams to Newbury for the Regional Finals.

RESULTS:­Boys U-19:

Greenmore College. Girls U-19:

Camp Hill Girls G.S. Boys U-IS:

Brandwood School. Girls U-15:

Nechells Eliot Street (w.o.). Boys U-13:

Washwood Heath (w.o,.). Girls U-13:

Kenilworth G.S. (w.o.). U-II:

Marsh Hill Primary.

AREA 6: National Champions, Newbury

County Girls G.S., won the Girls' U-19 event with ease, playing four melnbers of the squad which retained the trophy last year. Their Under­15 team was also successful and further Berkshire successes came from Forest School (Reading) and Winchcombe Junior School (Newbury). Hampshire's representatives are Queen Mary I Charles Chute, Basingstoke in the Boys' Under-I9 and Glen Eyre School, Southampton in the Boys' Under-IS,

RESULTS:­Boys U-19:

Queen MaryICharles Chute (Hants.) Girls U-I9:

Newbury County Girls G.S. (Berks.) Boys U-15:

Glen Eyre (Hants.)

THE 'SUFFOLK' BALL DISPENSER (Patent Pending)

Wall Mounted. Mechanically Operated. Dimensions 2411

Xx 1211 1211

•

Sight Glass for observing contents. This machine when adapted for table tennis balls

provides a service to your players and profit to your club. Fully-;Ioaded it will d~spense, one hundred good

quality balls at 5p each. Pri,ce1 £27-50:

L~ldled wirth 100 on'e, sta',r T.T. baUs,: £31-50 R:e;-fiU b,allls~£4-40 for 100 inc:luld:ing P. & P.

Can also be adapted for squash or golf balls.

PRESSGOOD LIMITED EASTERN WAY - BURY ST. EDiM,U,NDiS - SUFFOlK

Te1IeJphone,: 4243

Page 20

Girls V-I5: Newbury County Girls G.S. (Berks.)

Boys U-13: Forest School (Berks.)

Girls U-13: Kennet School (Berks.)

U-II: Winchcombe Junior (Berks.)

AREA 8: Middlesex and Surrey teams had a

good day at these' F!nals staged at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre.

In the Senior events, Southall Gralnmar jTechnical School were un­troubled against teams from Kent and Sussex but Emanuel School, Battersea, had a struggle against Harvey G.S., Folkestone before qualifying. Tiffin School (Surrey) could only manage a draw against Tunbridge Wells Tech­nical Schoo], Kent, but go through on superior sets ratio by virtue of a score of 22-20 in the 'last game! Salva­torian College (Boys' Under-13) and St. Michael's Convent G.S. (Girls' Under-I5) recorded wins for Middlesex whilst Surrey (Barrow Hills, Godal­ming) narrowly won the Under-II event.

Kent~s only success caIne in the Girls' Under-13 where the Westlands School, Sittingbourne were far too strong and did not concede a single game.

RESULTS:­Boys U-19:

Enlanuel (Surrey) Girls U-19:

Southall G/T (Middlesex) Boys U-15:

Tiffin, Kingston (Surrey) Girls U-IS:

St. Michael's, N. :Finchley

(Middlesex)Boys U-13: Salvatorian College (Middlesex)

U-II: Barrow Hills, Godalnling (Surrey)

REGIONAL FINALS Take place at 10 a.m. on Sunday,

27 February as follows: NORTH: Bradford - Parkside Sports

Centre, Parkside Road, Bradford.

MIDLANDS and WEST: Newbury ~

Kennet School, Stoney Lane, Thatcham, Newbury.

SOUTH and EAST: Crystal Palace ~

National Sports Centre, Norwood, London S.E. 19.

NATIONAL FINALS At Northwood Sports Centre, Stoke-on-Trent, March 19, 197~L

The National Organiser, Edward Mitchell, regrets the inconvenience caused to schools and county secre­taries due to his recent illness which resulted in much infornlation being distributed rather later than intended.

LEICESTERSHIR,E NOTES by PhiUp Re'id'

Leicester made their exit from the Wilmott Cup ,at the hands of Birming­ham. The latter took the first seven sets but Leicester took the last two when Charlie Jacques beat Richard Cooper and Paul Randell was too steady for Pat Glynn. None of the Leicester team, though, made much impression on Derek Munt.

In the Midland League, Leicester Men's 1st team continue their sur­prising and excellent form and look certain to finish in the top three. It has been a real team effort with Paul Randell, Graham Hughes and Charlie Jacques winning 12, 10 and eight res­

pectively. The 2nd team should finish about half way up Division Two with the third team having a fine chance of gaining pronlotion fronl Division Three.

The Juniors first tean} are stiJI un­beaten as is Chris Rogers. The Juniors 2nd have dropped only one point in the 2nd Division where Stephen Penny - in my opinion the 'surprise packet of tl:J-e se'lson' - is still 100 per cent. John Ellis made a 'come­back' for the Veterans 1st team and won all three against Birmingham 'A'. Bryan Hall's fine fornl in the Veterans 2nd team continued when he won all three against Birmingham 'B' in ,a drawn match. The Ladies had a great 7-3 win over Birmingham with Pat Kilsby unbeaten.

Hinchley Men's 1St team took all ten sets against Wolverhampton and now look certain to retain first division status.

Big news in Leicestershire is, of course, the England-Czechoslovakia match to be held at English Electric, Whetstone on March 7th. Tremen­dous in terest is being shown in this match and if you are wanting to attend, I suggest you contact Barry Hobson, 17, Kenilworth Drive, Oadby, Leics. (Phone Oadby 6018) without delay. Tickets are 75P each. Arrange­men ts have been going ahead for several months and the committee are determined to make this match a success. With over 1,000 players in the area there should be no difficulty in getting a 'full house'.

E.T.T.A. Election Calendar FRIDAY, 3 MARCH: 1 Send out Olfficer Nomination

Papers. FRIDAY, 17 MARCH: 2 Last day for Officer Nomination

Papers to be in. THURSDAY, 23 MARCH: 3 Send out Provisional Nominations

List to persons nominated. THURSDAY, 30 MARCH: 4 Last day for withdrawing from

nomination. FRIDAY, 7 APRIL: 5 Send out Officer Ballot Papers andl

or Notices that no ballot necessary. FRIDAY, 21 APRIL: 6 Last day for Officer Ballot Papers

to be in. MONDAY, I MAY: 7 Send out O'fficer Election -:results.

Send out Councillor Nomination Papers.

MONDAY, 15 MAY: 8 Last day for Councillor Nomination

Papers to be in. FRIDAY, 19 MAY: 9 Send out Provisional Nominations

List to persons nominated. FRIDAY, 26 MAr: 10 Last day for withdrawing from

nomination. TUESDAY, 30 MAY: 11 Inform Counties for which no

effective nomination. FRIDAY, ~ JUNE: 13 Send out Councillor Ballot Papers

and Ior Notices that no ballot necessary.

FRIDAY, 16 JUN}:. 12 Last day for Counties to nominate

Councillors (where appropriate). 14 Last day for Councillor Ballot

Papers to be in. FRIDAY, 23 JUNE: 15 Send out Councillor Election

results.

Thewholeworld isusing Dunlop BarnaSuperBalls

Amongst manyother MajorChampionships, theywere adopted for

The European Youth Championships The Portugese Championships The Balkan Championships The Australian Championships The Rumanian Closed National Tournament The U.S.A. N,ational Te·am ·Match.es The 'English Junior Open,C,ham:pio.ns·hips.

~DlT.N.£OP *And now exclusively adopted for

TableTennis isourgame. the English Open Championships.

Page 21

SPIN fiR ANTI-SPIN

by GEOFF WADSWORTH Ex-Yorks. County Playe'r

With the advent of the sandwich bat, the emphasis in table tennis has been placed on attacking play. Coaches are advocating that players m ust attack to win matches, and the poor old chopper is regarded as a rather poor relation. Someone to be endured, and finally overcome.

So what of the lad with a natural aptitUde for defence? It is not easy for some players to match the q uick­ness and sharp reflexes of others, and to these players defence may be a more natural relaxed game.

plersonally I am of the opinion that table tennis will be the better for a percentage of defensive players cap­able of beating the best in the world. I am also convinced that such a thing is impossible with the equipment on the market today.

The modern bats are designed to assist attacking play, with obviously no research on a bat to help a defender. Having done a fair amount of experinlenting on this line, and putting a pet theory of mine into effect, I am now quite certain that a bat giving no grip whatever to spin, is the answer to a defender's prayer.

Such a bat, of course, is impossible to manufacture, a certain amount of friction is always present. However, a very close approach can be made by;

( a) A very smooth wood faced bat or,

(b) A bat faced with a synthetic rubber giving very very little grip.

The wooden bat must be overruled on account of it being too hard and fast for defensive play, but a sand­",-ich-type bat giving practically no grip, is approaching the ideal, and gives excellent results.

How does such a bat work? Well, firstly, one uses an opponents top­spin to impart chop. If heavy topspin is being used, then one finds heavy chop on the return, and, very important, the ball does not lift from the surface of the bat, so excellent control of height is obtained. Fewer opportunities for the attacker to kill the return.

Furthermore, sidespin effect is greatly reduced. Think of the benefits on spin service receiving, as any spin imparted on service is automatically returned to the server with very dis­concerting results.

I have used such a bat as described for two seasons now, and still get tremendous pleasure from seeing a skilful spin server not knowing what to do with the service return

Again one gets excellent control of direction, and returns can be placed

quite accurately. To conclude, it is very difficult on

paper to describe all the benefits obtained. I will just say that any defensive player using an anti-spin bat, and giving it a fair trial (say one month) will never return to a conventional-type bat. Furthermore he will probably be astonished at the results obtained in match play.

I make this statement quite openly, and will only retract same if proved wrong on the table.

Naturally I am hoping to raise a deal of interest on this subject, so if interested players would contact the Editor, I am sure all letters will be forwarded to me, when I can advise on how such a bat may be obtained.

Middlesex Schools Championships

by David Luddy

Olver 280 players from 38 schools competed in 12 major and seven con­solation events in the fourth Middle­sex School' s championships at the Copland School, Wembley, London recently.

Robert Huson, the Middlesex junior No.2, won the under-19 singles event. His attacking power brought hirn four easy wins, defeated Peter Dun­nett, conqueror in the last eight ot fourth seed Tony Southcott, and beat

14-year-old Mark Mitchell 10, -18, 19, in an exciting counter-hitting final.

Mitchell had' earlier beaten the No. 1 seed, Dick Philps, and had five straight-game victories to win the under-15 event defeating another five straight-games winner Robert McCla­vin 15, 17, in the final.

McClavin took the under-13 title beating Woytek Strasburger 10, 16 while Andrew Gadsby won the under­elevens.

Twelve-year-old Angela Mitchell won the girl's under-19 singles beat­ing Jill Campion (13), -17, 17, 10, with some steady play and devastating hits and also the under-13 singles easily winning four sets, before beat­ing Christine Hedges, 11, 17. Miss Campion took revenge on Miss Mit­chell in three games of an under-15 semi-final but was beaten 24-22 in the deciding game by Marilyn Sangster, in the final.

Miss Campion did win a title, with Susan Akers in the under-15 doubles beating Susa~ Dove and Miss Sangster 12, 15 but the result was reversed in the under-19 doubles.

Huson and Philps, seeded one, easily took the boys under-19 doubles title with a 10, 12, victory over Dunnett and Tony Smerdon, while Nicholas Davis and Craig Rowland beat P'eter Daly and Michael O'Mahoney to win the under-15 title. David Bishop and Strasburger won the under-13 doubles.

Junior Open Tournaments by Laurie Landry

The first tournament of 1972 took place at the Y.P'.I. Centre, Hull over the weekend of Jan. 1/2 when, in the U-17 boys' singles event of t~e Yorkshire Junior 2-Star Open, DavId Alderson captured the title with a fighting display against Ian Horsham.

P'artnered by his Teesside colleague, T'ony Martin, the boys' doubles ti~le also went to the Ormesby club wIth final victory over Andrew Barden and Paul Day.

In the girls' events. Elaine Tan:en did like,vise and went one better wIth the mixed title as well, her partners being Gillian Taylor and Day.

The young Cambridgeshire player had a good weekend and figured in a fantastic U-13 boys' singles final with Andrew Barden.

Leicestershire's Karen Rogers would appear "to have lost her early season momentum and lost -19, -19. to Gillian Taylor in the U-17 guls' singles semis as well as going down to the same player in the final of the U-15 event.

Played over the weekend of Jan. 15/16 at the excellent venue of Wal­ford School, Northolt, the 1st Middle­sex Junior 1-Star Open attracted a considerable entry. It is hoped that it will continue with some improve­ments following a questionnaire dist ­ributed among the contestants.

Gillian Taylor, the young Ess~x player, was the outstanding c~m­

petitor winning four titles whIlst young Angela Mitchell, 11-years-old still won two U -13 titles. Middlesex hav~ high hopes for this young lady.

Ian Horsham was the winner of the boys' U-17 event with final victory over Peter T'aylor and this was the combination that put down the Teesside threat of Brian Alder­son and Tony Martin in the boys' doubles.

Yorkshire Junior 2-Star U ..17 Events Boys' Singles: Quarter..finals: I. Horsham (Essex) bt M'. Mitchell (Middx.)

8, 18: A. Barden (M'iddx.) bt B. Alderson (Yorks.)

-18, 22, 17: p. Day (Cambs.) bt P. Edon (Durham)

-20, 16, 10: D. Alderson (Yorks.) bt M. Wright (Yorks.)

17, 11. Semi..fin,als: HORSHAM bt Barden 11, 14: D. ALDERSON

:bt Day 13, 15. Final: ALDERSON bt Horsham -20, 12. 17. Girls' Singles: Semi-finalIst G. TAYLOR (Essex) bt G. Locke (Essex)

14, 9: E. TARTEN (Essex) bt J. Walker (Yorks.)

-17, 20, 20. Final: TARTEN bt Taylor 16, 18. Boys' Doubles~ Senfi,..finals: BARDEN/DAY bt M Bawden (Essex)/

Horsham 17, ..19, 21; D. ALDERSON/A. MARTIN (Yorks.) bt

R. Huson/D. Tan (Middx.) 20, 13. Final: ALDERSON/MARTIN bt Barden/Day 13. 12. Girls' Doubles: Semi...finals: LOCKE/K. RC'CERS (Leks.) bt A. Palmer

(Middx. )/K. Stonell (Essex) -19, 12, 11; TARTEN/TAYLOR bt J. Kelly (Essex)/C.

Reeves (Berks.) 15, 18. Final: TA,RTEN/TAYLO'R bt Locke/Rogers 16, 19. Mixed Doubles: Semi..finallg,: DAY/TARTEN bt G Keers (Notts.)/L. Budd

(Essex) 19, 12: HORSHAM/ROGERS bt Wright/Walker

14, 12.' Final: DAY/TARTEN bt Horsham/Rogers -16

19, 19.

Page 22

U ..lS Events Boys' Si.ngles: Semi-finals: D. ALDERSON bt Huson 12, 10; R. WILEY (Yorks.) bt Barden ..14, 13, 19. Final: ALDERSON ht Wiley 14, 14. Girls' Singles.: Semi..finals: ROGERS bt Tarten 19, 13; TAYLOR bt

Walker 17, 15. Final: TAYLOR bt Rogers 10, 10. Boys' Doubles: Semi-finals: MITCHELL/D. NEW'MAN (Essex) bt D.

Alderson/Wiley -13, 14, 17; BARDEN/DAY bt K. Hall/C. Rogers (Leks.)

14, -2.1, 11. Final: BARDEN/DAY bt Mitchell/Newman 18, 11. Girls' Doubles: Se,mi,..fin,als: ROGERS/WALKER bt J . Campion/A. Mitchell

(Middx.) 13, 11; TARTEN/TAYLO'R bt M. Mellor (Derbys.)/

P. Clements (Yorks.) 14, 18. Final: ROGERS/WALKER bt Tarten/Taylor 15,

-8, 19. U ..13 Events Bo,ys' Sin,gles: Semi...fillialls.: BARDEN bt Rogers 16, 12; DAY bt Newman

13, 7. Final: DAY bt Barden .. 18, 21, 17. Girls' Singles: Semi.finals: L. WALES (Sussex) bt B. Chamberlain

(Hunts.) 10, 10; K. WILSON (Yorks.) bt Campion 22, -19. 17. Final: WALES bt Wilson 8, 19,

Middlesex Junior Open U-17 Events Boys' Singles: Quarter..finals: P. Taylor (Beds.) bt A. Mitchell (Kent)

15, 8: J. Kitchener (Suffolk) bt R. Wiley (Yorks.)

17, 22: A. Martin (Yorks.) bt J. Nix (Warwks.)

16, 14: I. Horsham (Essex) bt B. Alderson (Yorks.)

24, 15. Semi..finals: TAYLO'R bt Kitchener 15, 19: HORSHAM

bt Martin 16, 12. Final: HORSHAM bt Taylor .18, 19, 15. Girls' Sin.gles: Semi-finals: G. LOCKE (Essex) bt C. Stonell (Essex)

..18, 13, 17: G. TAYLOR (Essex) bt E. Tarten (Es1?ex)

14, -17, 16. Final: TAYLOR bt Locke 15, 7. Boys' Doubles: Semi..fin.als: HORSHAM/TAYLOR bt R. Huson (Middx.)/

Nix 17, 19: B. ALDERSON/MARTIN bt S. Ball (Suffolk)

/J. Summers (Essex) 19, 16. Finab HORSHAM/TAYLOR bt Alderson/Martin

16, 18. Girls' Doubles: Seml..finals: TARTEN/TAYLOR bt A. Coghlan (Kent)/

C. Randall (Sussex) 11, -17, 10;J. HARTWELL (Middx.) /LOCKE bt J. Kelly

(Essex)/C. Reeves (Berks.) -17. 15, 13. Final: TARTEN/TAYLOR bt Hartwell/Locke 18,

-22, 20. U ..15 Events Boys' Sin~les: Semi..finals: KITCHENER bt A. Allars (Sussex) 9. 17: D. DINO-SMITH (Kent) bt M. Crimmins

(Surrey) 13, 19. Final: KITCHENER bt Dino-Smith 16. 18. Girls' Sin-gUest Semi..finals: TARTEN bt N. Leslie (Surrey -14, 18, 15: TAYLOR bt P. Clements (Yorks.) 9, 5 Final: TAYLOR bt Tarten 11, 14. Boys' Doubles: Semi..finals: HUSON/KITCHENER bt Crimmins/Wiley

15, 19: A. BAWDEN/S. NEWMAN (Essex) bt D.

Bangerter (Surrey)/Dino-Smith 19, ..21, 18. Final: HUSON/KITCHENER bt Bawden/Newman

8, -21, 18. Girls' Doubles: Semi-finals: TARTEN/TAYLO'R bt Randall/L. Wales

(Sussex) 18, .15, 14: KELLY/REEVES bt Clements/Stonell 15, 19. Final: TARTEN/TAYLOR bt Kelly/Reeves 11, 11. U ..13 Events Boys' Singles: Semi...finals: R. McCLAVIN (Middx.) bt D. Newman

(Essex) 17, 15; K. SEAGER (Surrey) bt M. Shuttle (Surrey)

16. -18, 11. Final: McCLAVIN bt Seager 24, 18. Gi.rls' Singles: Semi..finalslt A. MITCHELL (M'iddx.) bt S. Sutton (Essex)

19, 16; WALES bt L. Holtam (Kent) 16, 17.

Final: MfT'C'ftELL bt Wales 11, 18. Boys' Doublesl: Semi,...finals~ SEAGER/SHUTTLE bt M. O'Mahoney

(Middx.)/K. Richardson (Cambs.) -16, 16, 15;

R. JERMYN (Herts.)/D. NEWMAN bt McClavin/D. Wells (Middx.) 12, 22.

Final: SEAGER./SHUTTLE bt Jermyn/Newman 19,

..18, 18. Girls' Doubles: Semi..fina~Si: J. CAMPION (M.iddx.)/MITCHELL bt S.

Smith (Essex)/Sutton 16. 16;J. GAVIN (Kent)/WALES bt D. Collar/L.

Holtam (Kent) 19, ..6, 22. Final: CAMPION/MITCHELL bt Gavin/Wales

16, 17.

WORCESTERSHIRE NOTE'S

by Ian R. Crickmer

Having conlpared the various facilities now available in Redditch, the Worcestershire Tournament Com­mittee has now decided to use the well­appointed Leys Sports Centre for the County Closed chanlpionships. "This necessitates a change of dates, and the event will now ring down the curtain for the nlajority of Worcester­shire players on Sunday, March 26. The decision to adopt the group systenl for all the singles events should make the tournement more attractive to the average players on whom the success of any tournament ultimately depends.

Most Leagues in the County are still involved in the chase for honours in various Worcestershire competitions. The County Nomads, all members of the County senior teams' squad, are the only unbeaten side in Division 1 of the County League, but Hereford and Cookhill, each beaten once only, remain in conten tion. Cookhill,with seemingly endless resources of strong players from "over the border" will not lightly relinquish the title.

In Division 11, the Hereford and Worcester mixed sides drew at their first meeting, and the return encounter should determine this Division. The Juniors and Intermediate Division is dominated by Worcester, whose un­beaten run has assured them of success with two matches remaining to be played.

Cookhill should not be troubled by Stourport Wesleyans in the semi­finals of the Non-Handicap Team Knock-out, and will face one of three sides, Malvernians "B", Crowle or M.E.B. Roamers (Ludlow) in the final. The Roamers also survive in the Handicap event, where the last ten teams show a Kidderminster side in each quarter-final, having five repre­sentatives in all, to Hereford's three and Worcester's two.

It was heartening to learn that Wor­cestershire had teams in all seven sections of the English Schools' Area 5 play-off at Brandwood School, Bir­mingham, on January IS. At the time of writing, no results are yet to hand; let it be hoped, however, that no crushing defeats were meted out by the Warwickshire schools.

FOR

Finally, will all Worcestershire en­thusiasts please note the new address of Doug and Diana Moss, which is ;)8, Goodwood Avenue, Worcester WRS 2HR.

YORKSHIRE NOTES

by Tony Ros,s

• Yorkshire's congratulations go to David Alderson for writing his nanle into the record books at the English Closed. David has not enjoyed the best of fortunes since his big day, but Yorkshire is confident of his ability to ride the disappointments and overcome the pressures now on him to live up to his new status in the table tennis world.

A luention also for Alan Hydes whose response to the selectors' un­kindly demotion of him in the ranking list was to defeat Russian ace Gomoz­kov in the semi-final of the Lancashire Open at Bolton the following week. Alan's home club, Barnsley North End, could be in line for their first league Division 1 title win in 3 years, being undefeated at the halfway stage of the season, and in the Yorkshire Club Championships were hoping to call on Alan for the next rounds. Alan's younger brother Glyn played a big part in North End's Round 2

victory over Harrogate's Villa, winning 3 sets, as did Doug McGarry.

In the Barnsley Schools' League, Raley and S1. Helen's are setting a hot pace in the boys' division, wi th S1. Helen's showing up strongly also in the girls'.

Another milestone in Ormesby T.T.C.'s progress has been reached by the club's appearance in the senIi­finals of the European Club ChanI­pionships, the first by an English team. New England champion Trevor Taylor, now cOlumuting regularly to Ornlesby, seems to be benefitting fronl his sampling of the concentrated spirit of table tennis as distilled by alchenlist Alan Ransonle. Trevor made his first appearance for Middlesbrough in the Yorkshire League against Sheffield on 21st Decenlber last.

Bradford table tennis was shocked on 15th December by the sudden death of Brian Joyce (35) during a match between his club, Telephones, and Latvian Trimda. He represented Bradford a dozen times in the York­shire League in the early 1960'S and in 1962 was involved in a marathon record for the city championships, when his set against Eddie Payne lasted 78 minutes.

Bradford NO.2, John Davies, won the hard bat tournanlen t organised by county Coaching Secretary Steve Nunn at Parkside Sports Centre, Bradford. John normally plays an attacking g"alne with a sandwich bat, but his defence with pimpled rubber proved to be too lIluch for the regular exponents of this weapon!

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COUNTY DIARY FIXTUR.ES AND VENUES FOR FEBRUARY, 1972

PREMIER DIVISION Feb. 12 Essex v. Middlesex, King Edwards Schoof, Broomfield Road,

Chel msford. Kent v. Lancashire, Police Headquarters, Maidstone. Surrey v. Glamorgan, Bellfields Youth Centr,e', Bellfields Esfate, Guidford. Yorkshire v. Sussex, IILounge Hall ll , Royal Baths, Parliament Street, Harrogate.

26 Kent v. Surrey, Duncan Bowey School, Woodchurch Turning, Ashford. Lancashire v. Glamorgan, Institute of Technology, Deane Road, Bolton. Middlesex v. Yorks,hire, U.E.L. Social & Sports Club, Mansfield Road, Western Avenue, Acton, W.'3! Sussex v. Essex

SECON D SOUTH Feb. 12 Hampshire v. Kent II.

Middlesex II v. Essex II S,urrey II v. Buckin'ghamshire, Staff Hospital, Sutton Lane, Sutton.

26 Buckinghamshire v. Kent II Essex II v. Sussex II, Brays Grove Harlow·

Social Club, Banstead

~chool, Tracyes Road,

Surrey II v. Hampshire (as for Bucks. match) SECOND NO'RTH Feb· 12 Northumberland v. Derbyshire

Lincolnshire v. Nottinghamshire, Y.M.C.A., St. Rumbold Street, Lincoln. Yorkshire II v. Cheshire, International Harvester Sports Pavi',lion, Cantley, Doncaster.

26 Derbyshire v. Yorkshire II Durham v. Nottinghamshire, St. Joseph's School, Hart Hartlepool. Lincolnshire v. Northumberland, Y.M.C.A., Lincoln.

SECOND MIDLAND Feb. '12 Gloucestershire v. Staffordshire Grosvenor Street

Grosvenor Street, Cheltenham. HertfordlShire v. Bedfordshire, Public Hall, Southdown Harpenden. Leicestershire v. Cambridgeshire

Lane,

Hall,

Road,

26 Cambridgeshire v. Bedfordshire, Soham T.T.C., High Street, Soham. Hertfordshire v. Leicestershire, Cheshunt Drill HaU, Turners Hill, Cheshunt.

SECOND WEST t-eb. I L Cornwall v. Dorset

Glamorgan II v. Worcestershire, T.T. Room, Union House, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea. Somerset v. Devon, Y.M.C.A., High Street, Weston-super Mare.

Feb. 26 Wiltshire v. Cornwall, The Croft Sports Centre, Hesketh Crescent, Old Town, Swindon. Worcestershire v. Somerset

SOUTHERN Feb. 12 Hampshire II v. Buckinghamshire II

Oxfordshi're v. Hertfordshire II, St. Margarets Hall, Polstead Road, Oxford.

26 Berkshire v. Buckinghams,hire II Her'tfordsihire II v. Hampshire II

NORTHERN Feb. 12 Cumber;land v. Derbyshire II, Millom School, Salthouse Road,

Millom. Lancashire II v. Durham II, Deane Grammar School, 'Junction Road, Bolton. No'rthumbe'rland II v. Nottinghamshire II

26 Durham II v. Delrbyshire II, St. Joseph's School, Hart Lane, Hartlepool. Northumbert'and II v· Lancashire II Nottinghamshire II v. Cumber'land

MIDLAND Feb. 5 Worcestershire II v. Denbighshire, Dunlops Ltd., Churchfield

Street, Dudley.12 W'arwickshire II v. Shropshire, Moor Green T.T.C., The

Moorlands, Sherwood Road, Birmingham 28. 13 St'affordshire II v. Monmouthshi're, Streetly Y.C., Foley Street

East, Streetly, Nr. Walsall. " 26 Denbighshire v. Staffordshire II

Mar. 4 Monmouthshire v. Warwickshire II, Alcan Welfare Hall, Rogerstone. Shropshire v. Worceste'r II.

EASTE'RN Feb. 12 Essex III v. Norfolk, Rochway Youth Centre, The Rochway,

Rochford Northamptonshire v. Huntingdonshire, Doddridge Church Rooms, Doddridge Street, Northampton. Suffo'ik v~ Cambridgeshire II, Baptisf Church Hall, High Street, Lowe,stoft·

26 Huntingdonshi're v. Suffo'lk, Eaton Socon Institute, Eaton Socon Northamptonshire v. Essex III, The Drill Hall, Northampton Road, Ketteri ng.

JUNIOR PREMIER Feb. 12 Essex v. Warwickshire, St. Lukes, The Boyd Institute, Jude

Street Corner, Canning Town, E.16. Kent v. Yorkshi1re, Police Headquarters, Maidstone. Middlesex v. Surrey, East Finchley T.T.C., 142 High Road, East Finchley~

19 Hertfordshire v. Warwickshire. 26 Cheshire v. Surrey

Middlesex v. Ken,t Yorks,hire v.. Essex

" 27 Warwtckshire v. Surrey Mar. 5 Essex v. Kent, Maldon Youth Ceritre, rhe Friary, Chequers

Lane, Maldon. JUNIOR SOUTH Feb· 5 Sussex v. Hertfordshire' II, Albemarle Youth Centre, West

Common, Haywards Heath. Feb. 12 Bucki'nghamshire v. He'17tfordshire II, St. John's Club, Equity

and Law, Amersham Road, High Wycombe. 12 Be'rkshi're v.; Oxfordshire, The Air Hall, Harwe'll.

Hampshire v. Kent II 26 O'ucki'n'ghamshire v" Hertfordshire II, Bulmershe College,

Woodley, Reading. Kent II v. Sussex, Duncan Bowen School, Woodchurch Turning, Ashford.

Page 24

7.00 p.m. 7.15 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

7.15 p.m.

7.15 p.m.

4.30 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

7.00 p.m. 7.00 p.m.

7.15 p.m.

7.15 p.m.

7.00 p.m. 7.15 p.m.

6.30 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

7.30 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

6.30 p.m.

3.00 p.m.

2.30 p.m.

3.00 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

2.30 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

6.30 p.m.

6.30 p.m.

7.15 p.m.

6.30 p.m.

2.30 p.m. 2.30 p.m.

2.30 p.m.

2.30 p.m.

3.45 p.m.

3.00 p.m. 3.00 p.m.

3.00 p.m.

2.30 p.m.

Oxfordshire v. Bucki1nghamshire, St. Margarets Hall, Polstead Road, Oxford.

JUNIOR NORTH Feb. 12 Lancashire v. Durham, Deane Grammar School, Junction

Road, Bolton. N;:rthumbeliland v. Westmorland

26 Northumberland V.' Lancashire Wes,tmorland v. Durham, Kendal lads' ClUb, Kendal. Yorkshire II v.' Cumberland'.

JUNIOR MIDLAND Feb. 12 Leicest'ershire v. Warwickshire II, Kni,ghton Park T.T.C.,

Avenuel Road Extension, Leicester. Li\ncoJnshi:re v. Derbyshire, St. Rumbold Street, Lincoln.

19 Nottinghamshire v. Northampt'on'shire 26 Derbys,hire v. Northampt'onshi're

Leiceste'rshire v. Staffordshire, Knighton Park T~T.C., Avenue Road, Extension, Lekester.

JUNIOR EAST Feb. 5 'Cambridgeshire v. Suffolk

.12 Hunltingdonshire v.. Essex II, St. Neots T.T.C., Priory Road, St. Neots. Norfolk v Bedfordshire

" 26 Bedfo.,dshire v. Huntingdonshi're Essex II v. Cambridgeshire, Maldon Youth Centre, The Friary, Cnequers Lane, Maldon.

JUNIOR vlE:~olk v. Norfolk, The Dome, 193 Defoe Road, Ipswich.

Feb 12 GI:oucestershire v Gllamorgan, Grosvenor Street Hall,

20

26

Mar. 5 VETERAN Feb. 12

26

" 27 V,ETERAN Feb. 12

19

26

Grosvenor Str,eet, Cheltenham. Devon v. Gloucestershire, Ilfracombe T.T.C., East Wing, Victoria Pavilion, Seafront, Ilfracombe. So'merset v. Monmouthshire, Failand r .T.C., Failand, Nr. Bristol. Worcestershire v. Glamorgan', South Wye Community Centre, Hinton Road, off Ross Road, Her,eford. Monmouthshire v. Wiltshi're, Alcan Welfare Hall, Rogerstone. SOUTH Ken1t v.. Hampshire Northamptonshire v. Hertfordshire, Mixed Youth Club, Falconers Hill, Daventry. Oxfordshire v. Esse'x, ST. Margarets Hall, Polstead Road, Oxford' Ham,pshire v. Oxfordshire Her:tt.or.dshire v. Ken't Essex v. Northamptonshire MIDLAND Cheshire v. Leicestershire Staffordshire v. Worcestershire Leicestershire v. Nottinghamshlfe, K.n1ghton Park T.T.C., Avenue Road Extension, Leiceste'r. Staffordshire v. Cheshi're

6.30 p.m.

2.30 p.m.

2.30 p.m.

3.00 p.m. 3.00 p~m,

3.00 p.m.

3.00 p.m.

2.30 p.m. 2.30 p.m.

2.30 p.m.

3.00 p.m.

2,30 p.m..:i.30 p.m,

6.30 p.m.

2.30 p.m.

7.00 p.m.

WILTSHIRE NOTES

by IIMoon!rake,r"

CLOSED AT MELKSHAM Six tables will be used for this

season's Wilts. Closed to be staged by the West Wilts. League at The Christie Miller Sports Centre, Melks­ham, on Feb. 27.

All affiliated leagues have received entry forms which should be returned to Mr. p. Harford, 7, New Road, Bradford-on-Avon not later than Feb. 18.

It was West Wilts. that staged the first-ever County closed, way back In 1957, and it is confidently expected that the 16th Annual Championships will attract the biggest ever entry.

Facilities at the Christie Miller Sports Centre allow for adequate refreshments and excellent parking space.

In view of his uncertain form these days, Salisbury's Bill Moulding could well be hard-pressed to retain his title against new-comer to the county scene Clive Heywood (I've spelt it correctly this month!) and also a mUCh-improved Roy Smith.

Allison Boyce (D'evizes ) must be strongly fancied to retain the Women's title while it would be wrong not to tip her club-mate Helen Rusby as capable of upsetting form.

Last season's County League (Div . One) Champions, Warminster, seem out of the reckoning this year, though Devizes again look set to win the Mixed Division Title.

Leading positions on 14-1-72:­

DIVISION ONE P W D L F A Pts

Swindon 5 3 2 0 31 19 8 Devizes 5 3 1 1 25 25 7 West Wilts 4 3 0 1 26 14 6 Warminster .... 5 2 1 2 27 23 5

MIXED DIVISION P W D L F A Pts

Devizes B 4 4 0 0 32 8 8 Devizes A 2 2 0 0 14 6 4 West Wi Its 4 2 0 2 19 2 1 4 Salisbury A 4 1 0 3 17 23 2

Despite a handicap of minus 5, County seed Richard Arney played magnificentIy to account for leading Bath woman player Mrs. L. Baker (Studley + 10) 16, 19 in the Premier Division final when the West Wilts. League's Divisional Handicap cham­pionships were staged at the Newman Render's Canteen, Trowbridge.

Other final results:-

Div. 1: P. Back (Unigate + 7) bt R. Nelson (Mere + 6) -19, 18, 18. Div. 2: Miss A. Boyce (Etchilhamp­ton scr.) bt B. Stanley (Nursteed + 7) 17, 17. Div. 3: B. Palmer (Westbury + 7) bt Mrs. J. Warring­ton (St. John's + 2) -16, 19, 17. Div. 4: B. Hussey (Rowde + 2) bt D. Hillier (Rowde + 5) 11, -17, 14. Div. 5: B. Groombridge (Westbury + 10) bt D. Danks (St. George's + 8) 18, 15.

Patrick Powell beat the holder Ken Burrage -14, 19, 14 in the final of the Westinghouse (Chippenham) championships while both teamed up to beat Joyce Gummer and David Wilkinson in the handicap doubles final.

With the County Association approaching their 'coming of age', now is the time to constructively discuss the manner in which such an important landmark may be cele­brated.

Surely an aim which must take a high priority would be to strive for the return of CaIne, Chippehham, Corsham and Marlborough to the Wilts. competition besides breaking new ground at Malmesbury.

HALEX SUPER LEAGUE

by Lou Hoffman

LONDON SCHOOL STILL 'FLYING' The expected clash of the League's

unbeaten Trevor Taylor and Chester Barnes did not materialise. Barnes was out sick, under doctors orders to rest. Reddings (Taylor, P'enfold and Heaps) should have cashed in on Barnes' absence as did L.S. of F. a few weeks previ~usly, but it was not to be. Taylor again won his three sets, Simon Heaps won two, losing to Ferenz Nilam (replacing Barnes), and Ron p'enfold blotted his copy book once again, this time by losing to Nilam -13, -16, and to Graham Blomfield, the Essex Junior, -18, -17. He did manage, but only just, to beat Bobby Stevens 21, -20, 19. This gave Reddings a 6-3 victory.

L. S. of F. strode further ahead by beating B.X.L. 7-2. D'enis Neale won 3 and Roger Chandler and Robert Hellaby both beat Tony Piddock and Mike Harper, losing to Malcolm Sugden. Halex v. Jaques was a sus­pense match, 4-4 and 1-1 in the last set. This went to Halex to give them yet another 5-4 win. They have now played 6 matches and won 5 but are still only 2nd in the league. Peter T'aylor was the star of this match beating "Les" Haslam 21, 20, Mike Johns -18, 10, 17 and Ian Horsham 22, -15, 19. David Brown beat Horsham and lost to Haslam and Johns but Brian Burn failed to win a set.

It was another poor attendance to watch some great games, but we were pleased to welcome, as our V.LP., Jack Carrington casting his

experienced eye over the proceedings. May-be Jack can come up with some ideas on how to get spectators in London.

January 25th saw the seventh series of matches with Barnes and Aldrich still out of the Scotia Team, Nilaln and Blomfield taking over. Peter Taylor, on International duty, let in David J emmett, a former Middlesex Junior. As with Reddings in the last match, B.X.L. could not take advantage of Scotia without Barnes and Aldrich. The hero was a rejuvenated Bobby Stevens who beat Piddock 18, 18, Harper 13, 16 and Sugden -9, 16, 5, a true Captain's performance by a great campaigner. Blomfield and Nilam both lost 3 which was a surprise for Nilam as his record in the League has been very good. B.X.L. won 6-3.

Reddings took on Jaques (without Peter Taylor) and only found opposi­tion in David Brown who also played a Captain's part beating Heaps and Penfold but losing to Trevor Taylor -14 in the 3rd. J emmett was out of his class losing all 3, 2-straight. Burn failed yet again losing all his 3. Brian is too good a player to be losing so often, he must click soon and then he will be beating all those he is just losing to. 7-2 to Reddings.

The rnatch of the evening was undoubtedly that between L.S. of F. and I-Ialex, lying 1st and 2nd in the League. The first set on, Haslam v. I-Iellaby. L.S. of F. 1 Halex 0, IIellaby winning 19, 17, a shock result at the outset. I have never seen a Captain urge his team on to \vin as Neale did during this match. He virtually played every shot with h~s players and I am convinced he willed Hellaby to win. In his own sets Denis was great, winning all 3, 2-straight with no mercy shown. With Chandler beating Horsham it gave L.S. of F. a 5-4 victory and so maintained their top position. The League table now reads:­

L PtsP W L.S. of F. 7 4 3 38 Halex 7 5 2 34 Reddings 7 4 3 34 B·.X.L 7 4 3 31 Ja,ques 7 2 5 27 Scotia 7 2 5 25

Next matches are on Feb. 8th, 15th and P'resentation Night and last match, the 29th. If in London come and support us. We and the players need it.

FRESHMAN WINS B.A.B. TITLE

by PETER SIMPSON E.T.T.A. STAFF COACH (NORTH)

AND TECHNICAL OFFICER, U.A.U.

Freshman Jean Krier, the Luxem­bourg No. 1 now resident at Hull University, won the men's singles title in the Universities Athletic Union championships in Hull beating Lanca­shire county player Brian Mitchell (Birn1ingham University) in an exciting final 21-14, 20-22, 21-15.

Krier, using a variation of spin and speed to full advantage, played too cleverly for Mitchen, who relied too much upon his counter-hitting. The bespectacled Lancastrian, however, managed to take the second game, despi te a late recovery from Krier. Mitchell was leading 18-14 but KrieT levelled at IS-all, then led 20-18 before the Lancashire player won the last four poin ts to even the games. Krier" back in his stride, went on to win th ~

decider. Krier's best victory was in the selui­

final when he beat ex-junior inter­national, Alan Fletcher, now at Aston 21-12, 21-7.

Tony Morris, the ex-Leeds player, also fronI Aston, ousted the No. 3 seed, Chris Strathearn, from Exeter,

in the quarters but found Mitchell's greater experience too much for him in the semis.

Mitchell gained some consolation by winning the men's doubles with Mostin Lewis, also from Birmingham, ~n-l1,

22-20 in the final. The Aston com· bination had their chance in the second game when leading 14·7, but the Birmingham pair rallied off the next 8 points to lead 15-14 and kept it to finish 22-20

The awards were presented by the Chairman of the Yorkshire T.T.A. and E.T.T.A. Vice-President, Harry Flinton.

Jean Krier, Luxembourg's No. now at Hull University.

REDDINGS TEA wish their Team (TREVOR TAYLOR, RON PENFOLD and SIMON HEAPS) every success in the Halex Super League

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Page 25

DURHAM NOl'ES by Fred Inch

With Yorkshire II Juniors beating Lancashire 6-4 on Teesside, Durham now move into second place in the Junior North Division of the County Championships following a handsome 8-2 win over Cumberland.

T'o date Durham are unbeaten in their three matches against Northum­berland, Cheshire II and Cumberland and will" be in a strong position to challenge for the Junior Premier Division if they can manage to beat Lancashire, at Bolton, on Feb. 12. Should the team eventually make the higher grade I will personally guaran­tee the sponsorship necessary for the additional expenses which will be incurred.

Against Cumberland it was gratify­ing to see us winning the girls' singles set, by Miss C. Walker, and Miss S. Carruthers partnering John Crawford to a mixed doubles success. But most of the credit, this season, must go to the boys, Crawford, John Alsop and Peter Edon, who have improved tremendously as have many other juniors following on. Future prospects are brighter than I can ever remember.

In order to keep up the good work, I have made the suggestion that leagues within the County should endeavour to stage a Junior Cham­pionship' inviting the other leagues to participate.

Once such a championship is inaugerated, a season's programnle can be worked out whereby the juniors will have a County coaching session, a tournament within the County, and also travel to an open tournament, once a month. So come on you Durham leagues, accept the suggestion and ensure the future of table tennis in our area.

WESTERN LEAGUE NOTES by Grove Motlow

NEWBURY TO THE FORE In the Men's Division" Newbury

apparently intend to emulate their Ladies' team who won their section last year. So far, the men have won all their 5 matches and head the table.

They visited Newport and beat the home side 5-4 after Newport had established a 4--2 lead. Duncan Camp­bell, Norman Byng and David Wise deservedly capturing the last three sets.

Exeter were beaten by much improved Weymouth 5-4. With the score 4-all at Weymouth, D. Apple­bee clinched victory by beating l\t1. Rundle 2-1. For Exeter, Mike Rattue was again their rstar' with a maxi­mum.

Page 26

Plymouth still retain their unbeaten record beating Exeter 6-3. The high­lights of this match were provided by Rattue of Exeter, with another 'max', and a great performance by young Keith James for Plymouth.

Following their good win at New­port, Newbury visited Taunton and won 7-2 thanks to a good 'max' from Byng. Weymouth 2nds secured their first win when they visited Swindon rrB" and won 6-3. For Swindon, young Karl Bushell did well to win two. For Weymouth, Mike Doyle was invincible.

Bristol were beaten at home by Weston 6-3. They went into a 2-0 lead but Weston fought back well to take the next 6! J oe Garland secured a maximum.

Weymouth had an easy home win against Swindon ,rB" winning all nine sets in straight games. Weymouth 2nds nearly pulled off a surprise victory against Exeter at Weymouth. With the score at 4-all, Paul Stone saved the match for the visitors when he beat John Dale. Sid Brice was brilliant for Weymouth and secured a treble which meant a rare defeat for Rattue.

Swindon had a narrow home win against Bristol their 5-4 success being mainly attributable to Tony Wolff who was unbeaten. Weymouth, in their visit to Taunton, just made it 5-4.

Garland was Weston's 'star' in their 7-2 home victory over Taunton whilst J. Andrews had two good wins for the visitors.

Last year's champions, Newbury, in the Ladies' Division are still un­beaten with three good wins over Bristol (9-0), Exeter (5-4) and Plymouth (7-2) . In the Exeter match, with the score at 4-all, Mrs. Masters clinched victory beating Mrs. Maureen Spray 16, 16. For Exeter, Pam Mortimer had three comfortable wins.

Exeter visited Weymouth and won 6-3, the home successes coming fronl Jenny Vass who was in brilliant form and included P'am Mortimer in her victories.

Devizes had a good win over Swindon, by 8-1, with both Mrs~ A. Boyce and Miss Rusby securing maximums Gwen Hazell obtained the visitors' only success.

Bristol, at home, beat Weymouth 7-2. Joan Collier was in excellent form winning her three incIuding the defeat of Jenny Vass-her first loss this season!

Leading positions:­

MEN P W L F APts

Newbury 5 5 0 34 11 10 Newport 5 4 1 30 15 8 Plymouth 3 3 0 21 6 6 Weston . 5 3 2 25 20 6 Weymouth . 5 3 2 23 22 6

LADIES' PWLFAPts

Newbury 3 3 0 21 6 6 Bristol 4 3 19 17 6 Devizes 3 2 17 10 4 Exeter 3 2 17 10 4

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HAMP'S,HliRE N,O'TES

by David COSW81Y

DISASTROUS JUNIOR RESULT

Hampshire seconds won a very close match against Oxford 6-4 due mainly to the men. Terry Bruce and Phil Crane each won two singles and Brian Pickard one. Julie Hudson was not at her best either in the singles or women's doubles combined with Celia Hutchings. Celia played well, how­ever, to win the mixed with Phil Crane.

The Juniors, after two good wins, came badly unstuck against Berk­shire and can really say goodbye to their hopes of a p'remier play-off. The 2-8 reverse was really a disaster, and with respect to Berkshire it should never have happened. Hamp­shire's sole successes were singles wins by Kevin McQuade and Gary Langland.

In the inter-town league, the Mixed Division 1 has now virtually resolved itself into' a battle between Bourne­mouth "A" and Basingstoke, both still unbeaten. Their meeting should decide the title. Bournemouth beat Portsmouth 9-3 in a recent match. Aldershot and Bournemouth ' 'B" head the second division each with unbeaten records. The Isle of Wight surprisingly lead in the Men's Divi­sion and their clash with unbeaten Aldershot should decide the winners.

Southampton "A" still lead the junior division, although they only just scraped a draw with Gosport when McQuade was outstanding. Bournemouth "A", although they lost their first match with Southampton, are just behind their rivals and recently beat Gosport 7-3. The depth of Southampton junior talent is shown by their "B" team easily leading the second division with an unbeaten record and only 8 sets against in five matches.

It is good to see a new 'Open' tournament being born in the county with the Basingstoke Open on the 29th/30th April. I wish every success to this go-ahead town with this new venture and congratulations on the sponsorship they have obtained.

Southampton Premier division has still a raging battle for the title with one set separating Snows "A" and Four T's Eagles at the end of the first half. Similar!y in the first divi­sion one set separates two Four T's teams at the top.

By the way, I am obtaining little information fronl other towns ln Hampshire for inclusion in these notes so don't complain if it is Southanlpton biased. Brian Lamerton has obtained "air space" on Radio Solent every Saturday evening at 6-45 and he is equally anxious to obtain up-to-date news for inclusion.

LINC,OLNSHIRE NOTES

by H. J. Flowe,rs

THREE IN ONE Grimsby are top dogs in the Haigh/

Butlin and Butcher Cup competitions and it looks as if, for the first time ever, all the three Competitions will be won by one town.

The Haigh Cup has been dominated for many years by Boston. They have won the cup so many times that it

has seemed to be their property. With Brian Hill and Mick East (The County's No. 1 and 2) playing for them, they have won every match for many seasons. However, because they did not fulfil their fixture against Scunthorpe, a 10-0 walk over has been given to Scunthorpe. This has changed things dramatically for now Grimsby have a two-points lead having amazingly beaten Spalding 10-0. They have played one match more than Boston but have a 12-sets advantage. Both Grimsby and Boston should win their remaining games but now every set is going to be vital.

For many years the County team ladies have been selected from Grimsby and Spalding players and because of this there has been a bitter rivalry between the two towns in the ButIin Cup. This season, Grimsby have beaten Spalding 6-4 and, therefore, should take the title.

In the Butcher Cup, Grimsby have persisted with a youth policy for several years and now it is beginning to payoff. S. Morley, recent winner of the Lincolnshire Closed Junior Championships, has been ranked No. 1 junior. P. Taylor has yet to drop a set. Grimsby having won all 5 games are a clear 5 points in front of their nearest rivals.

The results of the County teams are very dismal. The senior team has only won one set in two matches and unless the players pull their socks up we could be faced with relegation.

I am pleased to say that although the juniors have lost both their matches, they have played their hearts out. I feel certain that with a Iittle more County experience they will get the results.

MIDDLESEX NOTES

by laurie Landry

DISAPPOINTMENT P'ressing Yorkshire hard for the

leadership of the Premier Division in the County Championships, it is a disappointment to learn that Mal­colm Sugden will not be available for the match against Essex, at Chelmsford on Feb. 12.

Lacking the services of Robert Aldrich-although a watcher nursing his broken arm-Middlesex Juniors fought a losing battle against Essex in the Junior P'remier. It was a great match and what a team man Aldrich is. He should be back in action by mid-February.

Jane Hartwell nearly caused a big upset when she stood 1 game and 20-16 up against Janet Hellaby, the English Junior Closed champion, but it was not to be, despite a wonderful set.

O'ver in Holland where 13-years­old Andrew Barden was invited to Wucht to participate in the Dutch Junior Open V-13 and V-15 events. The youngster reached all four finals, winning both the U-13 and U-15 boy's doubles, with Paul Day vf Cambs., and losing to Paul 20-22 in the deciding game of the U -13 singles final.

In the V-15 boys' singles final, Andrew lost to van Zoelen of the Netherlands but it was a great show nonetheless. Keep it up, Andrew.

Continued from page 28 of Kent skipper Vic Atterano. An enjoyable evening for all (except the visitors, perhaps, who lost their unbeaten record in this competition).

Northamptonshire 5, Hampshire 4 VETERAN MID'LAND Nottinghamshire 6, Staffordshire 3

Worcestershire 4, Cheshire 5 Hardly a fltop-v.-bottom" clash.

Graham Warby gave Worcs. heart by recovering from 14-20 in 2nd to beat A. Barber -9, 20, 18: then a maximum from skipper Eric Edwards helped them to a 4-3 lead. Lou Moran saved the day for visitors, also recording a maximum.

C.T.T.C. A.G.M. The Annual General Meetinlg of rthe

C.T.T.C. will be held at 26-29 Park Cresoent on Saturda¥, June 17/72.

Proposed alteration,s to the rule:s of the Championships may be sub­mitted, in writing, by an,y member County ,and sent to the Secretary,JOM M. Wright, 124 Rusthall Avenue, B'edfo,rd Pa,rk. London W4 IDS, to arrive by the last day in :Rebruary.

DIVISIONAL TABLES To 23rd January, 1972

Premier

Yorkshire Middlesex Sussex Essex Surrey Lancashire Kent Glamorgan

2 South Essex II Surrey II Kent II Middlesex II Sussex II Hampshire Bucks 2 North Cheshire Yorks. II Derbyshire Lincolnshire Nthmblnd Durham Notts

2 Midland Warwicks Gloucesters. . . Staffordshire . 4 2 1 1 22 18 5 Leicestershire . 3 1 1 1 15 15 3

P W D L F APts 4 4 0 0 29 7 8 4 4 0 0 28 8 8 4 4 0 0 25 11 8 3 3 0 0 20 7 6 4 0 0 4 11 25 0 4 0 0 4 10 26 0 3 0 0 3 6 21 0 4 0 0 4 6 30 0

. 4 2 1 1 25 15 5

. 3 1 2 0 18 12 4

. 3 2 0 1 16 14 4

. 4 2 0 2 18 22 4

. 4 1 1 2 19 21 3

. 3 1 0 2 13 17 2

. 3 1 0 2 11 19 2

4 4 0 0 37 3 8 4 4 0 0 36 4 8 3 1 0 2 13 17 2 3 1 0 2 8 22 2 3 1 0 2 7 23 2 4 o 0 4 12 28 0 3 o 0 3 7 23 0

. 4 4 0 0 31 9 8 4 2 1 1 23 17 5

Cambs. Herts Beds

2 West Devon Somerset Worcs. G Iamorgan II Dorse,t Cornwall Wiltshire

Southern Berkshire Herts. II Oxfords Hants. II Bucks. II

Northern Lanes. II Nthmblnd II

3 1 0 2 11 19 2 . 3 0 1 2 11 19 1 . 3 0 0 3 7 23 0

. 3 3 0 0 21 9 6 3 2 1 0 22 8 5 3 2 1 0 21 9 5 3 0 3 0 15 15 3

. 4 0 3 1 18 22 3 4 0 1 3 12 28 1 4 0 1 3 11 29 1

3 3 0 0 26 4 6 2 1 0 1 12 8 2

. 3 1 0 2 12 18 2 2 1 0 1 6 14 2 2 0 0 2 4 16 0

3 3 0 0 24 6 6 3 2 0 1 15 15 4

Midland P W D L F APts

Warwicks. II . 3 3 0 0 27 3 6 Monmouths . 3 3 0 0 21 9 6 Staffs II 3 2 0 1 18 12 4 D:enbighs. 3 0 1 2 9 21 1 Shropshire 3 0 1 2 7 23 1 Worcs. II 3 0 0 3 8 22 0

Eastern Essex III 3 3 0 0 26 4 6 Norfolk 2 2 0 0 13 7 4 Cambs. II 3 2 0 1 15 15 4 Suffolk 3 1 0 2 15 15 2 Northants 3 0 0 3 9 21 0 Hunts. 2 0 0 2 2 18 0

Junio,r Premier Essex Cheshire Middlesex Yorkshire Surrey Warwicks. . Hertfordshire Kent

Juniolr South S,usse'x Kent II Hampshire Berkshire Bucks. Herts. II Oxfords

Junior North Yorkshire II Durham ... Lancashire Nthlnblnd Westmorland Cheshire II Cumberland

Junio,r Midland Leicestershire Derbys. Notts. Staffs. Northants Warwicks. II Lincolnshire

Junior East: Cambs. . Essex II Suffolk Hunts. Beds Norfolk

Junior West Devon Glamorgan Gloucesters Somerset : Worcs.

4 3 1 o 25 15 7 5 3 0 2 30 20 6 4 2 1 1 23 17 5 3 2 0 1 21 9 4 3 1 2 o 17 13 4 3 1 1 1 14 16 3 5 0 1 4 13 37 1 3 0 0 3 7 23 0

. 3 3 0 0 27 3 6

. 4 2 2 0 29 11 6

. 4 2 1 1 25 15 5

. 3 1 1 1 15 15 3 3 0 2 1 11 19 2

. 2 0 0 2 3 17 0

. 3 0 0 3 0 30, 0

4 4 0 0 34 6 8 3 3 0 0 23 7 6 3 2 0 1 22 8 4 4 2 0 2 21 19 4 3 1 0 2 12 18 2 5 1 0 4 13 37 2 4 0 0 4 5 35 0

4 2 2 0 26 14 6 3 2 1 0 18 12 5 3 2 1 0 18 12 5 4 2 0 2 21 19 4 3 1 0 2 13 17 2 4 1 0 3 16 24 2 3 0 0 3 8 22 0

3 3 0 0 23 7 6 3 3 0 0 21 9 6 3 2 0 1 18 12 4 3 1 0 2 10 20 2 3 0 0 3 10 20 0 3 0 0 3 8 22 0

. 4 3 1 0 33 7 7

. 3 3 0 0 25 5 6 3 3 0 0 24 6 6

. 4 1 1 4 1 0

Monmouths..... 4 1 0 Wiltshire 4 0 0

Veteran South Essex 3 3 0 Oxfords. 3 2 0 Kent 3 2 0 Herts 3 1 0 Northants 3 1 0 Hampshire 3 0 0

Veteran Midland Notts 3 2 0 Cheshire 2 2 0 Leicesters. 2 1 0 Staffs. 2 1 0 Worcs. . 3 o 0

Gloucestershire withdrawn expunged.

2 19 21 3 3 18 22 2 3 7 33 2 4 4 36 0

0 19 8 6 1 19 8 4 1 17 10 4 2 13 14 2 2 5 22 2 3 8 19 0

1 18 9 4 0 11 7 4 1 10 8 2 1 8 10 2 3 7 20 0

- results

E.T.T.A. UNDER-'13 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Notts. II 3 1 1 1 18 12 3 All Leagues are reminded that Durham II 3 o 2 1 14 16 2 entries for these Championships close Derbys. II 3 1 0 2 10 20 2 on Feb. 15. Leagues are entitled to Cumberland 3 o 1 2 9 21 1 nominate 2 boys and 2 girls.

Page 27

ticularly successful. Karen Mashford far too strong for the home girls, and -,the hosts outplayed in doubles.county Championships Round-up JUNIOR NORTH Cheshire II 1, Northumberland 9by JOHN WRIGHT 6 sets taken the distance, but the visitors too good for this young Cheshire side.

The four leading Counties in the and gave Cumberland their first-evertheir account v. Jackie Redfearn (first Durham 8, Cum,berland 2 Premier Division have consolidated senior point. I am sure they willfull county match for too many years) Yorkshire II 6, Lan,cashire 4accept it with mixed feelings.and gained revenge for the earliertheir positions and the sit~ation has Almost a point here for Lanes.

XD home success. Eric Coster's back­arisen where all these stIll have a Lancashir'e II 7, Nottinghamshire II 3 with their strong girls taking 3 andhand let him down, but Malcolmchance of taking the title and the Even without Brian Mitchell, Michael F'oulkes scoring 17, 19 winSugden and "Les" Haslam had noother 4 are in relegation danger. Lanes. a little too good in a well ­ over P'aul Fennon. Narrow BD 'winsuch problems. contested match. for Yorks. the vital factor, and well

chance of preventing Cheshire going Only Derbyshire have even a faint

Sus,sex 8, Glamorgan 1 played Brian Alderson!MIDLANDR. Chandler bt G. Davies 12, 19; btto the Challenge matches as 2nd JUNIOR MID'LANDMonmouthshire 7,A. Griffiths 20, 15.North representatives and Warwick­ Lincolnshire 4,Worceste:rshire II 3J. Clarke lost to Davies -16, -17; btshire (as of course expected) are Warwickshire II 6Monmouths. still unbeaten but notF. Anderson 13, 17. nearly there as 2nd Midlands cham­ really convincing in this match. 3 for Northamptonshire 3,. .S. O!gundipe bt Griffiths 16, 17; btpions. 2nd West is still very open as their women, one MS for each man Laceste,rshtr,e 7Anderson 19, 14.is 2nd South where either Surrey or plus MD made the 7. Colin Hammond The wrong order of two boys costChandler/Clarke bt Davies/GriffithsKent could be looking to their 2nd the star for Worcs., crushing Tony Northants. a set.-7, 15, 1l.teams to preserve their Premier Huish and outhitting T'ony Watkins.Miss J. Williams bt Miss L. Jones Staffordshir'e 4, Derbyshire 6

17, 8. status.

Shropshire 5, Denbighshire 5 Good results for Derbys., got offAll four regional divisions are led Ogundipe/Williams bt Anderson/Jones to a good start by I vor Warner beat­13, 10.

Warwickshire II 8,by unbeaten teams with impressive ing Stephen Dunning. Then Neil

can feel pretty certain of improved Staffordshire II 2records, .but of these only Berkshire

EASTERN Marples led Steve Rowe 17-9 in 3rd

status next time. A disappointing match, particularly

Norfolk 6, Suffolk 4 before going under 15, -15, -23. Anne previous matches. in view of Glamorgan's spirit in their

Wilding rather restricted MandyCheshire's fine Junior P'remier win The expected MD' win did not come, Mellor in both GD and GS although

2nd SOUTHv. Yorkshire has really set .this di~i­ and Norfolk had to scrape XD to both went to the visitors. BD and the sion alive and a great finIsh agaln Susse:x II 3, Hampshire 7 win the day. Chris Bensley the most top BS both were home wins but is in prospect. Sad to record the with­ impressive of the 7 men on view. Adrian Higgs could not hold off drawal of Gloucestershire's Veteran

Buckinghamshire 6, Middlesex II 4 Cambridgeshire II 6, opponents in XD' or his second singles.Kent II 6, Essex II 4team a victim of financial worries Northamptonshire 4 JUNIO'R EAST2nd NORTHcause'd by the unsuccessful Tewkes­ 1-2 down, Northants~ took WD, Cambridgeshire 7, Bedfo'rdsbire 3

Cheshir.e 9, Northum:.be:rland 1 MD and WS to lead 4-2 but Cambs. Only Ron Kettlewell able to stop

bury Open. then took the rest for the match. Beds. led 2-1 but then the home

PREMIER Fine XD' win for Paul Day and team took charge and never really )na whitewash-he beat Nigel Eckers­Essex 7, Surrey 2 Deborah Clarke, both Juniors, over trouble. What a good win by Michaelley -18, 18, 10. Visiting wornen notT. Taylor bt C. Warren -19, 14, 14; Chris Dilley and the vastly Charter by 18, 23 in the opening setnearly strong enough, but both are

bt F. Nilam 16, 19. v. John Willis after trailing 10-20still very young. experienced George Tsow. in 2nd !D. Brown lost to Warren -18, -19; bt Lincolnshire 7, D'erbyshire 3R. Penfold 9, 13. Essex III 10, Huntingdonshire 0 Huntingdonshire 6, Norfolk 4

R. Stevens bt Nilam 16, 12; bt Pen­ 2nd MIDLAND JUNIOIR PR.EMIER First win of the season for Hunts.,fold 13 -16, 19. Hertfordshire 4, Glouc.este'r:shire 6 Cheshire 6, Yorkshire 4 with Tim Speller, Jean Allinson andBrown/T~ylor lost to B. Hill/Nilam Herts. let this one slip through their A real triumph for Cheshire, with Sue Richards collecting 5 between15, -20, -15. fingers! Barry White led Roy Morley Brian Johns both starting (beat David them No wins for Kevin Moore onMiss S. Hession bt Miss S. Howard 16-9 in second, lost 19, -18, -19; Alderson 21, 12) and finishing matters debut but a good display of promise.12, 20. David Rawlinson and Barbara in great style (beat Michael Wright Peter Maybury unbeaten for NorfolkP. Radford/Mrs. L. Radford bt Hill/ Andrews led 10-6 in 3rd of XD with 20, 14). Simon Heaps, too, in great with 2 BS and BD.Howard 16, 16. "right" order to come but lost at 19. form crushing Alderson 9, 9. A splen- Suffolk 4, Essex II 6

Lancashire 3 , Yorkshire 6 Warwic'kshire 7, Leicestershire 3 did match with all ten players John Kitchener brilliant (bt AndrewA Boasman lost to D'. Neale -8, -15; giving all they had. Bawden 4, 11; bt David Boulter 13,B'edfordshire 3, Staffordshire 7·lost to A. Hydes -19, 17, -8. Esse'x 7, Middlesex 3 2) but Suffolk rather let this one slip2nd WESTI{. Forshaw lost to Neale -17, -11; And another one, but with 13 away.D'evon 6, Wiltshire 4lost to J. Walker -19, -10.

players involved. F'ine debut for JUNIOR WESTA fine win for Devon, with twoD. p'arker lost to Hydes -9, -13; bt Peter Hunt for Essex with wins over Devon 10, Wiltshire 0'flu victims in the side. Even without

BoasmanjP'arker lost to H ydes/Neale Walker 22, 14.

Robert Huson and Mark Mitchell Karl Bushell put up a brave fight

-17, -15. play for a fortnight Barry Davis took

(also on debut). Janet Hellaby in opening set v. Kenny Reeve, going Mrs. D. Johnson bt Mrs. P. Bassano

both MS and Bob Parkins (the other snatched GS from Jane Hartwell -22, down at -16, 19, -21 but the visitors

-9, 19, 15. casualty') clinched the win over new­

21, 15 after trailing 16-20 in 2nd; did not manage even another gameKathy Deem and Jane took GD' 17,. . t

boy Clive Heywood after visitors had come back from 2-5 to 4-5.Forshaw/Miss S. Lisle bt A. Ran­ -11 14 from Elaine Tarten and agaInst a supenor earn.

somejBassano -9, 19, 15. Glamorg;an II 5, Corn,wall 5 Giliian Taylor; this match had almost' Glamorgan 7, Som,e'rset 3 A 200-strong crowd at Lancaster everything. Worces:telrshire 4, Monmouthshire 6Somers:e't 5 Dors:et 5

saw play of standard never before Some ex~ellent play in a very even Surrey 5, Hertfor'dshire 5 Weakened by morning-of-the-matchreached in that area. At 3-all York­ match. Dorset's strong women took Surrey never in the lead, but rugby injury to No. 1 Ian Schofield,shire were worried but the experience their 3 but Somerset men generally although Max Crimmins made hard Worcs. nearly took a point. Com­of D'enis Neale and Alan Hydes saw superior although Tony Kinsey lost work of Richard Jermyn (17, -21, petent start by Philip Knights withthem through. Tight WS with good 11, -13, -18 to Trevor Smith. ~. 20) in the final set they deserved two-straight BS wins, plus GD and hitting from Di Johnson to see her Reeves fulfilled some of the promIse their point. P'oor Nicolette Leslie not GS (the latter giving Wendy Salterhome and Tony Boasman, Donald visible for some time. at her best in GS v. Karen Morton first County singles win). Robert Parker in excellent form. and it was left to Gerald Walsh to Edge thrice started well only to falterSOUTHERN

pull Surrey through-he twice came and the visitors must thank GrahamMiddles,e~ 7, Kent 2 Buckinghamshire II 2, Oxfordshire 8 o Haslam bt A. Piddock -16, 18, 8~ from behind to beat Richard Morris Young for steady play to record a

·bt K. Baker 15, 14. So ends a run of 9 Senior defeats

20, 22. Martin Harris collected 2 maximum.for Oxfords.-but they had to field M. Sugden bt Piddock 15, 17; bt BS and BD for Herts. VETERAN SOUTH2 veterans to do it!

C. Morris 11, 19; Warwickshire 7, Kent 3 Hertfordshire 4, Essex 5Hamp,shire 0, Berkshire 10E. Coster lost to Baker -19, -17; bt A well-deserved victory for Berks., JUNIOR SOUTH Kent 5, Oxfordsbire 4Morris 21, ~9, 14.

but the margin a trifle flattering Hamp,shire 5, Buckinghamshire 5 Reserve Reg Williams twice hitCoster/Sugden bt Baker/Morris 10, against below par opposition. A well-balanced Bucks team himself out of deep trouble on his

Mrs. J. Redfearn lost to Mrs. B. Bird 18.

NORTHERN deserved their point. Hants. girls and debut and two singles wins again for -21 -12 Derbyshire II 9, Northumberland II 1 K. McQuade recorded all the sets Ron Etheridge (expedite v. G.

Hasl~m/R·edfearn bt Piddock/Bird 14, for home team. Collins and hittin,g off Alf D'avies !).Durham II 5, Cumberland 5-18, 18. Kent II 5, Berkshire 5 A renewal of old friendships as Alf Kent never really in the match and

Poor Durham-another set forfeit Kent's boy'S to the rescue, taking and Mair D'avies one-time clubmates

soon 0-5 down. Betty Bird opened due to unregistered player which cost them their 6-4 gained on the table all their 5 with Peter Kemp par- Continued on page 27

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