English squash international and professional Mike Thurger will appear in his first Christchurch tournament when he competes as the top seed in the Wigram open at the weekend.
Thurger arrived in Christchurch in January and emphasised that he was mainly here to see the country, not to play squash.
However, he joined the Burnside club and has played in the inter-club competition as well as competing in some tournaments away from the city. His entry in the Wigram tournament will be interesting and the performance of local players against this expert of the slow, floating game will be a valuable yardstick to the progress of squash in Canterbury.
The South Island men’s champion, Barry McNeil (Old Boys) is the second seed. After an excellent win against Greymouth’s Don Preston in the South Island event, his performance will be watched with interest.
TOP JUNIOR: However he is in the lower half of the draw and is likely to meet the top Canterbury junior; Rod Hayes (Christchurch) who has caused a stir in Squash circles this year. Burnside’s Lyn Sparks is the fourth seed, but faces Hayes in the second round. Neither player has a tough first-round game. Among the unseeded [layers, the only serious challenges to the more fancied competitors are likely to come from the juniors, Paul McFadzien (Christchurch) nad Barrie Matthews.
Ros Stanton (Old Boys) is the top seed in the women’s open and it seems unlikely that she will be headed in her bid for the title. The South Island champion has played consistently well this season.A lot of interest will centre on the clash between the top juniors, Joanne Milne (Sumner) and Pip Monk (Christchurch) , third and fourth seeds respectively.
Because of the withdrawal of Jill Bruce (Suburbs) with a leg injury, these two players are both in the lower half of the draw and seem likely to battle it out in the semi-finals. Miss Monk will be out to avenge her loss in the Linwood Open final and has recovered a lot of form – enough to pose a threat to Miss Milne.
Bette King (Christchurch) is the second seed after the withdrawal of Mrs Bruce and will undoubtedly face Miss Stanton in the semi-finals.
