Rod Hayes (Canterbury) showed that he would not easily relinquish his title when the Slazenger New Zealand under-23 squash championships continued at the Christchurch Club courts yesterday.

On Saturday the top-seeded Hayes was twice taken to five sets by lesser opponents while his main rival, Paul Viggers (Hawke’s Bay), waltzed through his matches without dropping a game.

It was a different story yesterday, however, when Hayes beat Shane Smith (Auckland), 9-4, 9-0, 9-7, and showed the sort of form that rekindled confidence among his supporters.

Although Viggers was again very impressive in pushing aside Andrew Sinclair, 9-0, 9-4, 9-0, in his semi-final, it remains to be seen how he will perform when pressure is applied in this afternoon’s final.

Viggers – who has dropped just 16 points in four contests has not yet been really pushed, while Hayes should benefit from his rather longer spells on the court.

The women’s final will be contested between the top seeds, Annette Owen and Robyn Blackwood (both Auckland), who were unextended to win their semi-finals against Karen Lever (Bay of Plenty) and Sheryl Clarke (Central) respectively in straight games.

Hayes’s match with Smith was easily the longest of the semi-finals, lasting over 40min. The Aucklander started well with a 4-0 lead in the first only to lose the next 19 points to a positive Hayes.

At this stage Smith, who had been doing a lot of fine retrieving, looked tired and Hayes’s tactics of working him around the court were paying off. However, the third lasted nearly 20min; Hayes getting a little too careful and trailing 4-6, before regaining the initiative and taking the last two points with nick shots.

Sinclair, who had struggled to beat Canterbury’s Craig Hibbert in five the previous day, gave Viggers little trouble in the semi-finals.

It took 3min for the first point to be scored, but from then on it was all Viggers. He finished the first game off in just 3min more and went on to win in 22min, keeping hold of the serve throughout the third.

The Hawke’s Bay player varied his pace effectively and his apparent drops that actually became hard drives were a particularly good ploy. He volleyed very well in the third when he hit four dead nicks.

Both of the women’s semifinals lasted less than half-an-hour with the Owen-Lever match taking a bare 20min. Miss. Owen had too much power for her opponent who made some rather nervous errors, though she did fight back quite well from 3-8 in the third.

Miss Blackwood had got her game together rather better after a narrow squeak home over Joanne Milne |(Southern) in an entertaining encounter the day before. She was too steady for Miss Clarke, who lost her early touch with drop shots and lacked a strong finish after leading 7-4 in the first and 6-4 in the second.

Abbreviations used in the following results are Auckland (A.), Bay of Plenty (B.O.P.), Canterbury (C.), Central Districts (C.D.), Hawke’s Bay-Gisborne (H.B.G.), Southern Districts (S.D.), Waikato (Waik.), Wellington (W.).

MEN

Championship

Second round.-R. W. Hayes (C.) beat E. Wooley (A), 8-10, 9-6, 7-9, 9-5, 9-0; R. Durey (H.B.G.) beat K. Hannan (W.), 9-5, 9-7, 9-5; R. Fitzsimmons (S.D.) beat I. Borley (Waik.), 4-9, 19-2, 9-3, 9-4; S. Smith (A.) beat L. Walton (W.). 10-8, 8-10, 9-6, 9-6; A. Sinclair (C.D.) beat J. Mason (W.), 10-8, 9-0, 9-6; C. Hibbert (C.) beat J. Dancaster 1 (S.D.), 9-0, 9-6, 6-9, 2-9, 9-7; D. Oakley (W.) beat G. Owen (W.), 9-6, 9-6, 8-10. 9-5; P. Viggers (H.B.G.) beat J. Oakley (C.), 9.1, 9-6. 9-1.

Quarter-finals. – Hayes beat Durey, 3-9, 9-10, 9-5, 9-4, 9-0; Smith beat Fitzsimmons, 10-9, 9-2, 9-1; Sinclair beat Hibbert, 4-9, 9-2, 9-3, 6-9, 10-8; Viggers beat-Oakley, 9-1, 9-2, 9-0.

Semi-finals.-Viggers beat Sinclair. 9-0, 9-4, 9-0; Hayes beat Smith, 9-4, 9-0. 9-7.

Subsidiary draw

Quarter-finals.-M. Corner (C.) beat G. Egan (C.), 3-2; P. Davenport (C.) beat R. Burnett (C.), 9-3. 6-9, 9-8, 7-9, 10-8; G. Utteridge (C.) beat R. Seman (C.), 9-3, 9.4. 9-6; K. Bolt (W.) beat P. Herd (C.), 9-5, 9-5, 0-9, 5-9, 9-6.
Semi-finals. – Corner beat Davenport by default; Utteridge beat Bolt, 3-9. 9-4, 9-2, 9-5.

WOMEN

Championship

Quarter-finals.-A. Owen (A.) beat C. Butler (B.O.P.), 9-2, 9.3, 9-1; K. Lever (B.O.P.) beat S. Devoy (B.O.P.), 9-2, 9-5, 9-7; S. Clarke (C.D.) beat D. Kelsall (A.), 9-6, 9-4. 9-4; R. Blackwood (A.) beat J. Milne (S.D.), 9-1, 3-9, 0-9, 9-6, 10-8.

Semi-finals. Owen beat Lever, 9-1, 9-2, 9-6; Blackwood beat Clarke, 9-7, 9-6, 9-6.

Subsidiary draw.

Quarter-finals.-C. Stoupe (W). beat A. Thomas (C.), 9-5, 10-8, 9-2; J. Oakley (W.) beat K. Aplin (C.), 9-1, 9-6. 9-2; T. Cushmans (S.D.) beat M. Hunt (C.), 9.3, 9-4. 9-0; D. Ward (W) beat J. Havill (C.), 1-9, 9-0, 9-2, 9-2.

Semi-finals. — Stoupe beat Oakley, 3-6, 9-10, 10-8, 9-1: Ward beat Cushmans, 10-8, 10-8, 9-5.

By Tim Dunbar – 7 April 1980