Badminton

The Tournament Badminton team is a potentially strong one.

Top player in the team, for the third successive year, is Lim Ee Chiat. Formerly a representative player for Sarawak, his home country, he will no doubt be the mainstay of the team.

Ee Chiat played in second position for the NZ Universities in 1963 and first for them last year in Auckland. He is ranked second to Don Higgins in the Wellington 1964-65 Rep team.

John Rowe also strengthens the chances of success. He was the top New Zealand junior player in 1964. The other players, Patrick Tan, Seow Bin Gay, and Tan Song Kean, are all players of considerable ability and experience.

The women's team is weak in comparison. However, top ranking of Jane Mowat is well deserved. She has played top for Vic for the last two years. She was chosen in 1963 for the number four berth in the NZU team at Dunedin Last year she again represented NZU, this time in number three position.

Canterbury

The following is a list of some of the Canterbury Tournament teams. All other team lists are in the Tournament Handbook.

Judo: J. Boyd, J. Young, T. S. Lorimer, N. H. Davis, D. J. Painter, F. J. Staples, J. B. Gallagher, P. J. Garley, H. B. Nobson, N. T. Service, G. T. Robertson.

Women's Hockey: G. A. Scully, G. I. Irving, M. A. Rogers, J. Minson, J. P. Clark, N. H. Lock, I. A. Timms, S. M. Napier, C. M. McAllister, H. Robertson, C. H. Reay, J. M. Fright.

Golf: P. J. Hrios, R. S. Peate, A. Holland, B. C. Taylor, H. A. Weatherhead, R. A. Pearse, R. T. Calvert

Cross Country: B. Tover, R. Wall, R. Farmer, P. Hewlatt, D. Somerville, D. Rowell, W. Slinn, P. Marks.

Squash: R. M. Garrett, T. P. Walsh, C. Moore.

Fencing—Men: G. Law, G. Scott, G. Saunders, G. Stikes, B. Garland, G. Lewis.

Billiards: T. Ballantyne, H. Christie.

Women's Indoor Basketball

In marked contrast to the teams of previous years, Victoria are fielding — or courting? — a very strong women's Indoor Basketball side. Regular and hard coaching by Mr. P. Morpeth, assisted by Nev Richardson and Alan Bland, has developed the Victoria girls into a much fitter and more skilled team.

The team is led by Mary Hurst, a Wellington A and B grade rep, who should perform well over Tournament. Other members are Sue Jackson, who played B grade for Hutt Valley before switching to University: Gretel Wesney, an experienced Tournament player: Lorraine LePetit, shaping up well for her second tournament: likewise Sue Watt, a new convert to the sport; and Link, a very good tactical player, an Indonesian student who played for many years in her home country.

Of the opposition, Otago look to be the strongest team, as in other years, with their large contingent of Physical Educationists. Auckland will also have a good team with outdoor basketball players likely to provide the backbone of the side, Canterbury are regarded as being too ladylike—more opposition is expected from Massey, a team that could be a lot stronger than last year.

The home side has high hopes for Tournament and should do better than last year's fourth place—in fact, they could cause some startling upsets. They have shaped up well in games against Exec and the Maths Honours class—the latter being rulers of the academic basketball roost—so here's hoping for a win for Victoria.

Harriers

The Victoria Harrier Club is beginning a long climb back to its former glory out of the slough into which it had sunk, i.e., the standard of harriers at Victoria seems to be improving.

Two members of the Tournament team finished in the first 25 places in the Wellington provincial championships, an encouraging omen or portent or something— encouraging, anyway.

George Seconi, a first-year student, won the club championship by about three minutes and has generally been running very well. A foot injury has handicapped his training, but he still looks Victoria's best bet for a place in the first eight at Tournament. Another running in his first Tournament is Dave Mackay, a convert from rugby. Experienced Tournament harriers Bob Wilson, John Meade, Malcolm Buchanan and Geoff Rashbrooke round out the team, with Wilson quite likely to provide a surprise—it's about time he did.

The race should be a close contest between Otago and Auckland. The individual winner will probably be Peter Welsh from Otago, title-holder for the last three years. But with runners of the calibre of Barry Jones (Canterbury), Jim Power (Lincoln), and Jim Farmer (Auckland) in the field, a bookmaker could well lose his shirt, The Victoria team will be quite happy to beat Massey, something they couldn't do last year.

As in most clubs, the non-competing members are lending a helping hand to organise the race, and without this kind of help it would be impossible to hold Tournaments. So as you cheer the winner across the line, spare a thought for the poor guy out in the sand dunes directing the stragglers how to get back to the finish.