China Mail 1941-01-08
Today's Junior Division League badminton programme features only one match likely to be very interesting: Chung Wah versus King's College. This match should result in a victory for Chung Wah.
King's College's team is almost identical to last year's, and although they are capable of extending Chung Wah, Chung Wah are very well-balanced and should win fairly comfortably, provided conditions at the College do not worry them too much.
In other matches, Recreio should win easily against Jewish Recreation Club. St. John's, for whom Eardley will be playing, should defeat St. Andrew's, although if the Saints, whose team I have been unable to confirm, are at full strength, they should not let their hosts win easily. Kowloon Tong, even without Frank Kwok, should be too good for Police.
King's College caused a big surprise in the Junior Division of t
China Mail 1941-01-09
King's College caused a big surprise in the Junior Division of the Badminton League last night when they beat Chung Wah, hitherto highly fancied for the title, by the odd game in nine. This victory established King's as strong contenders for the championship.
King's actually secured the match in the eighth game of the evening when S. P. Chan and W. C. Chung won their game, making the score 5-3 in favour of King's. Chung Wah had a flying start, with Choy and Chiu losing their first game, but Lee and W. H. Choy, along with Chiu and Liang, beat Lam and Lo and Woo and Liu respectively, giving Chung Wah a 2-1 lead. This lead was increased in the next round when Lam and Lo again lost. Thereafter, however, there was no stopping the home team, who rattled off the next four games for the match.
Although the season has been in progress for some little time, various members of both teams had not had much practice. H. T. Woo was playing in his first game this year, and it took him the best part of his opening game, which was lost, to settle down. Choy Wing-chiu, who normally should be one of Chung Wah's best players, was making his first appearance on a badminton court for over 12 months.
Chan and Chung were in excellent form for King's, and it was mainly due to their consistency that the College won. Chan provided speed and subtlety, while Chung played a dashing brand of badminton that had his opponents considerably worried. While Woo was finding his touch, a good deal of responsibility was thrown on Liu, and he acquitted himself well, covering the court amazingly and producing all the shots in the book. Lam and Lo did not meet with much success, which was unsurprising as Lo was suffering from a twisted leg and was only playing because there was no other player to call on, with Attwell engaged in Volunteer exercises. C. A. Chiu and S. C. Liang were the best visiting pair for Chung Wah and did very well to win two games. The most exciting game of the evening saw Lam and Lo push Choy and Chiu the whole distance before losing. Well down, the King's pair drew up to 1-all and 'setted' only to fade out of the picture and lose the next five aces in a row.
At Bonham Road, King's College beat Chung Wah by 5 games to 4.
* S. P. Chan and W. C. Chung (King's) beat W. C. Choy and K. F. Chiu (21-13), F. S. Lee and W. H. Choy (21-8), and C. F. Chiu and S. C. Liang (21-11).
* H. T. Woo and K. L. Liu (King's) beat Choy and Chiu (21-9) and Lee and Choy (21-16), but lost to Chiu and Liang (5-21).
* P. Lam and K. H. Lo (King's) lost to Choy and Chiu (19-24), Lee and Choy (11-21), and Chiu and Liang (17-21).
Police lost to Kowloon Tong by 3 sets to 6.
* W. Gillies and L. Gordon (Police) beat Peter Lo and J. Tsang (21-?), R. E. Lee and K. M. Lee (21-14), and S. C. Chin and Lee Po (21-14).
* J. MacDonald and H. Dingsdale (Police) lost to Lo and Tsang (4-21), Lee and Lee (13-21), and Chan and Lee (8-21).
* R. Hogarth and J. Shepherd (Police) lost to Lo and Tsang (14-21), Lee and Lee (10-21), and Chan and Lee (6-21).
St. John's defeated St. Andrew's by 7 sets to 2.
* D. Kwok and E. Kennard (St. John's) lost to E. F. Fincher and H. Kew (15-21) and beat M. Davies and M. Merrett (21-15). (The score for the match against E. H. White and J. Tomlinson was unparsable and has been omitted.)
* N. Smith (St. John's) beat Davies and Merrett (21-15), Fincher and Kew (21-6), and White and Tomlinson (24-22).
* R. Maynard and G. S. Ladd (St. John's) lost to Fincher and Kew (13-21) and beat Davies and Merrett (21-11) and White and Tomlinson (21-5).
Recreio beat Jewish R.C. by 8 sets to 1.
* C. C. Pereira and A. R. Alves (Recreio) beat B. Dotkin and J. Odell (21-7), M. Talan and A. L. Poliak (21-16), and A. Odell and S. Ramler (21-14).
* P. A. Yvanovich and P. P. Botelho (Recreio) beat Dotkin and Odell (21-15), Talan and Poliak (21-15), and Odell and Ramler (21-9).
* A. E. Xavier and A. E. Noronha (Recreio) lost to Dotkin and Odell (7-21) and beat Talan and Poliak (21-14) and Odell and Ramler (21-9).
The current league standings are as follows: