શની ધન પા
THE CHINA MAIL, AUGUST 26, 1939.
WIMBLEDON IS A FARCE-
WANTED✰
✰ "OPEN"'
Trevor Wignall, one of Britain's most discussed sports writers, has many detractors, but one refreshing thing about his writings is that he is not afraid to tell what he conceives to be the facts, irrespective of the heads he knocks in the process.
Their hesitancics
are
the forbidden
GOLF
Page
21
C. WHITCOMBE
IN FORM
London, August 17.
who had to pinch and scrape to put Charles Whitcombe, former them in the sport limelight.
British Ryder Cup captain; asked to plunge over
when they Sam King, Knol: Park assis- line are not caused by shivers of dis-tant; Charles Grabham, gust or even mild distaste.
Llandrindod, Welsh Cham- When they are honest, as In the "Sunday Dispatch" he has the following to say sometimes are, they know
they pion; and G, Johnson, Bul- about Wimbledon, under the above caption:-
merely about to do openly what many well Forest, shared the lead of them have all along done in secret. on East Brighton course yes- lief that they will lose caste and will terday in the first round of
What does scare them is the be- therefore be barred by the best people. the "News Chronicle" £1000 As things are to-day, the tennis professional golf tournament.
Amateur tennis has descended with, posed to work, to accept gifts such certainty that it looks these days makers of balls and racquets, as if only the women can keep it wear clothing supplied free of alive. There are personalities among by small and large stores. the girls, but the up-and-coming men are not nearly so conspicuous.
from or to cost
they are
star who turns professional kisses farewell to the very desirable trim-
welcome in well-bred kennels.
Each had a round of 68, and Grab-
Many of them, however, are never What I expect to find, however, is a short of a few dozen racquets, and mings of the game. Mongrels are not ham was the first to set up a record demand for open championships that twice or thrice a day they are able will bring in the Budges and the Per-to change their 'raiment, rys.
for the altered course, which now measures 6842 yards, and has a strict par of 70.
NINETY PER Cent. in favour The sidelines of the men are not That demand is already fairly vo- so numerous, but they
It is all monstrously unfair, and un- This competition, which will be con- are never- cal in England. Suppressing it
theless are
not to be sneezed
and at. The sportsmanlike,
contemptible, tinued to-day with the second round, the whitebeards and the greyheads | champion tennis player who
Amateur tennis is as much a cannot
pro- and will be concluded on Friday with and the tradition-bound connection of make at least £3000 a year is not
fessional occupation as working on the final 36 holes, aniong a maximum the ruling bodies.
trying.
a dock, balancing a ledger, or writ-of 60 qualifiers, ranks as one of the ing a book. It is paid for, and paid year's most important events in view of for handsomely.
the Ryder Cup match between Britain and the United States to be played in Florida next November.
They forget that what is called amateur tennis is an object of scorn to most people.
Tennis, once a pat-ball method of whiling away an odd hour, is, from the point of view of amateurism and
all it is supposed to mean, the big gest fake it is possible to conceive,
Its real amateurs are the uniden- tified men and women who sweat and shriek in public parks.
The genuine amateurs to be en- countered at Wimbledon or Forest Hills ought to get their photographs taken so that they can be bound in vellum and laid in the most sacred part of a famous nuseum.
REFUSE TO RECOGNISE
Very many are better off than 99 per cent. (of the professionals.
The rebels are beginning
to take command. They tell reporters they would be glad to play in open cham-
war-
The chief audacity of the tennis ulers is to refuse to recognise open pionships. They also speak tournament. Professionals, as a mat-mingly of a day when the stars will ter of fact, are not people
rooms walk straight into committee except when they are wanted to coach the and demand a fair share of the pro- amateurs in Davis Cup games.
fits. "We're pulling them in, aren't Well, let's have our cut out of the boodle."
Then they stroll in by the back- door, wipe their boots on the mat, pick up their fees, and leave by the tradesmen's entrance.
The claim that amateurs must not be seen on courts with professionals
s sheer impertinence.
It is advanced and chiefly ported by those who gouge
sup- every public
Wimbledon, well organised and with nothing against it as a place of entertainnient, gives ne a particular-penny they can out of the ly sharp pain.
In 1938 it was alleged to have refused the entry of some foreigner on the ground that what is laugh ingly called the approved amateur status had been wilfully gashed.
WILD AND WOOLLY
Charles Whitcombe has said that he will not be able to accept an in-. vitation to play, but King is a can- didate for a place, and so is Grabham, a 'slim, fair-haired youngster of 27. Other claimants, including Reginald Whitcombe and Max Faulkner, each. of whom returned 69, have done well, but Richard Burton, British Open That sort of deflant slogan can be Champion, made heard in all the countries where ten-finished in 76, well down the field.
a bad start, and nis is as commercialised as football or baseball.
we?
Grabham steered, clear of many troubles which beset less fortunate The professionals will have to be welcomed,
competitors in the record field. He was and graded with those
bunkered only once - who merely accept expenses, if the where he recovered so well that he
at the ninth
Lame, as
proposition-
nearly holed out for a 3, and obtained which is what it acty is here na-his par 4. Grabham had started by hol- tional titles are played for is to be sa'. ed.
business
I
when the gouging is easy.
The one thing to admire about the tennis bodies is their monumen- tal, gall.
Ninety per cent. of the players It is slightly
to their credit that have conversed with in recent times they obstruct their noses, for inter-are in favour of open championships. national or big tennis sinells to high beaven.
These gentry life horrified lids Why this foreigner did not ask for when open championships are sug- details of the sums that had been ad-gested about twice every season, but vanced, or promised, to other foreign- they have not yet answered the taunt ers for graciously agreeing to exhibit that they refuse to do so because their paces, is not recorded, but per- they are afraid their own pockets will haps this intending entrant did not be affected. know that the travelling and Eving When a player threatens to go over expenses of all those who are "no- to the professional ranks they over- minated" for the celebrated fortnight |whelm him with pleas to think twice `are taken care of by the authorities before he takes the awful step. Not either in this country, or by his or because they care two hoots about his her own national association.
future, his standing in tennis society, As a carnival of simon-pure ama- or his bank balance. teurism Wimbledon is a wild
and What whitens their locks is the re- woolly jest. And, as simon-pure collection that his departure will amateurs, many of those who are featured there are splendid contor- tionists and gymnasts.
In the higher ranks of lawn tennis there
are few dyed-in-the wool ainateurs. Those who do not make a livelihood out of the game play it for the wonderful time it assures them.
Taking to tennis, and shining at it, is fur better than joining the Marines, The world is seen at the proper seasons, under the must de- lightful conditions, and without the disturbing interferences that sergeant- majors and officers are apt to manu- facture.
seriously
lessen their attendances. Once he moves over the line, how- ever, he is an outcast.
If they take the bit between their teeth, which is threatened, they will most easily get them.
BUDGE
BEATS VINES
Glasgow, August 17.-Close on 2000 spectators witnessed the se- cond day's play in the profession- al exhibition matches at the White City, Ibrox, Glasgow, last night, when theprogramme. again consisted of two singles and a doubles match.
a chip shot from the back of the first green for a "birdie" 3 (one under par), and he had only 31 puts in eighteen
holes.
SPLENDID IRON PLAY
Charles Whitcombe's splendid iron play enabled him to get his figures without much luck on the greens. He was only a few inches from the hole with his tee shot at the tenth, and, although he took three puts on two oc- casions, he was usually accurate in the short game.
King, one of the late starters, had a good chance of taking a clear lead. " He was out in 33, having holed a putt of two yards for a "birdie" 3 at the ninth, and a putt, of 'five yards gave him another "birdie" at the fourteenth. Coming to the last hole he needed n par 4 for a 67, but he drove into the rough, left his second in the long grass, and ultimately had to hole from two yards for a 5.
Johnson spoilt his efforts with a 6 at the sixth hole, where he pulled his drive, and
the took four to reach green. An outward half of 35 did not
well to be home in 33. seem too good, but Johnson played
He has warts on his hands, he does not wash his neck, and he changes" his shirt only once a week.
He can- not be introduced to daughters, he In the first singles match W. T. must not use the rooms and lockers Tilden, after a three-set match, was where once he was the lord of all he' beaten by Lester Stoefen. Tilden surveyed; if he is invited to cocktail was seen at his best in the first set, parties it is as a waiter, and his name when he had Stoefen on the run with is never spoken save in a husband and some
Reginald Whitcombe, 1938. Open beautifully placed drives to Champion, began his round by holing scornful way.
both wings, but the effort appeared a chip shot for a 3, but he took 35 to Even if he is a male, he is regar- too much for him, for he never pro- the turn, having been bunkered at the ded as the fallen woman of tennis. duced the same tennis In the next fifth. Whitcombe had to play well for His bedraggled skirts are soiled, two sets, Stoefen repeatedly aced his 4 at the last hole, to finish in 69. he has openly accepted money in pur-him with his service, and, with his This score was equalled by Faulkner, Only the very best people are met, suit of his profession, mä touse-ground stokes improving, he took the who did the first nine holes in 33, and I have every reason for stating|quently his name is mud and his next two sets for victory. that there is no need to fear that the qualifications 'nil.
after holing from four yards for 3 at between the ninth. personal pocket will ever be empty.
If the player is a champion he or she can permit it to leak out that it will cost £100 or so for an ap- pearance at a minor club.
I would much like to know when some tennis.stars of magnitude last saw a rendered account for a steam- ship possage, residence in an hotel, or travel on a train.
It is possible that they look at them frostily before scrawling their signatures, but I am ⚫ prepared to swear that is the nearest they get to paying them.
The big girls of tennis are not sup-
الحمية
SWIMMING INTERPORT
POSTPONED
The other singles match He may have spent years of a Budge and Vines was expected to life as a 'n Pc3, and dine him- produce a great display, but it proved self well in the matter of the An- a big disappointment. Vines did not ance of tennis, but from the instant show his best form, and failed to when he declares himself a. pro- make a fight of it. There was very fesional he is an outlaw, a prairie- | little net play, and Budge, who kept dog, a leper.
a perfect length with his returns won in two sets.
a meeting of the swimming Later Budge and Vines defeated Til | committee of the Victoria Recreation den and Stoefen in a doubles niatch.
Club last night, it was decided to Lester Stoefen beat W. T. Tilden, postpone the Interport contest with.. 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Shanghai owing, to the, present situą- Donald Budge beat Ellsworth Vines tion. Shanghai was notified by cable
last night that the Colony team passages on the Wing Sang had been cancelled.
That is why the boys and girls who become headliners hesitate when the tempters sidle up with big wads of dough and the promise of more where that came from
The modern stars of lawn tennis are rarely graduates of famous uni- | 6-2, 6-3. versities. In the main they are from middle-class families, with
Budge and Vines beat Tilden, and fathers Stoefen, 6-4, 0-9.
At