Talking Point of the Year: Sponge Bats

This year’s world men’s singles title was won by Toshiaki Tanaka, who became the third Japanese player to win with a sponge bat - following Hiroji Satoh in 1952 and Ichiro Ogimura in 1954. By now an unprecedented surge of interest in sponge had been unleashed throughout the world.

It reached New Zealand in 1953/54. A band of Auckland pioneers began either making their own sponge bats using industrial sponge or foam rubber cut to size, or purchasing, usually from overseas, ready-made bats such as the Flisberg. Tage Flisberg, a top Swedish player who reached the 1954 world final with sponge, had for several years given his name to a range bats made by Stiga and a Flisberg “waffle-type” thick sponge bat was among those brought back from England by Bob Jackson following the 1954 world championships.

By 1955 supplies of sponge bats of varying material, thicknesses and speed were available in New Zealand shops. The floodgates had opened. Everybody seemed to want one, especially the struggling club player who had tried everything else. Higher level players were in less of a hurry. Some were excited by it; others hesitant. Very few, if indeed any, of the South Island’s top players showed much interest at this stage.

The bat was, in general, harder to control and did not suit everybody. There were players whose game fell apart completely with sponge. Others noticed an almost immediate improvement. About one-third of Wellington’s A Grade began the season with sponge but more than half had switched back to pimples by season’s end. Nonetheless there was enough sponge around to require almost everyone to rethink their game. The sponge surface imparted more spin and more speed. Non-sponge users had to adopt different tactics when facing sponge and those using it had to further adjust their game when confronted by another sponge-bat player. Sponge / non-sponge doubles combinations added a further complication. And there was the question of advising new players. Should they start with sponge and risk having to learn all over again with pimples if sponge goes out of favour or is banned?

And a ban was a distinct possibility. There were strong feelings expressed at world level that sponge, at least beyond a certain thickness, should be outlawed. At present there was no limit on the thickness of a bat. Judging from comments at our own AGM many New Zealanders were uneasy over the way things were heading but as long as sponge of unlimited thickness was legal internationally New Zealand had little option but to allow it.

Second Attempt to Implement an International Ban Fails

A remit to ban sponge had been defeated at the 1954 ITTF AGM by 40 votes to 28. This year there was a second attempt when Germany and Belgium sponsored a similar remit. The meeting to reconsider the ban took place in the Netherlands during the 1955 world championships, where the number of sponge bats had mushroomed well beyond the dozen or so wielded in 1954. As debate on the issue progressed it looked like those favouring sponge might again prevail. They had a supporter in ITTF President Ivor Montagu who as early as 1952 had said “If this (the sponge bat) produces in other countries a new cycle of hard and enterprising hitters with guts, like Satoh’s own compatriots, with the ambition to beat him and his like - where’s the harm?" (Japan’s Hiroji Satoh had won the 1952 world singles with sponge).

The remit was defeated by 37 votes to 21, a wider margin than last year. Sponge was getting more support, not less.

The top European non-sponge users either wanted it banned or had accepted it with resignation. Johnny Leach predicted its eventual demise, considering it inferior to pimples once players became accustomed to it. Richard Bergmann was more forthright. “If you want table tennis to remain a spectator sport, ban sponge!” The Rowe twins had just seen Johnny Leach eliminated from the 1955 World Championships by a mediocre French player with a sponge bat which reinforced their view that “although spongers will be beaten eventually, ‘eventually’ can mean a long time. In the meantime the game is suffering both as a spectacle and as a genuine test of skill.” To Viktor Barna the whole issue was a bit of a yawn. “Sponge has been around as long as I can remember. Don’t ban it.” Barna had never lost to a sponge player. He had advice for pimpled rubber players competing against sponge. “Favour chop. Hit when you can, but only once. If it comes back don’t try to hit again. Chop until you get the next attacking opportunity.”

Many Improve With It

By the end of 1955 many players the world over had made the switch and a large percentage, including some top Europeans, had noticeably improved. Here in New Zealand Bob Jackson had mastered sponge to an astonishing degree and had absolutely blitzed his way through Auckland interclub, registering several scores of 21-0. Other players, men and women, young and old, were switching.

Taking everything into account, it looked like the sponge bat was here to stay.

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Success at NZ Championships for June Magorian – Finally!!

It was a popular win, and a long time coming, but June Magorian (pictured) finally managed to capture the women’s singles title at the New Zealand Championships, played this year in Napier for the first time. It was Magorian’s fifth finals appearance since 1949. Formerly June Leathley, she won the South Island championships in 1947 while still a junior and reached the NZ final in 1949, 1950 and 1952, losing each time to Margaret Hoar. She was a semi-finalist in 1953, and in 1954, with a lower seeding, had to deal with Margaret Hoar in the quarter-finals. This time she beat her, only to lose the final to Joyce Williamson.

She faced Williamson again in this year’s final. Williamson won the first game 21-10 but Magorian took the next three 21-17, 21-19, 21-18. She had the crowd behind her, not only appreciating her positive hard-hitting game but also because many of the same spectators had seen success elude her in previous finals.

Joyce Williamson was not the player remembered from 1951, or, more vividly, from her superb match with Dora Beregi in the 1952 Australian final. Her devastating forehand attack had been virtually abandoned and replaced with a steady chop. Her flick backhand remained useful but her entire game was being readjusted since she changed to a sponge bat.

Magorian’s run to the final included a five-game quarter-final against Thelma Keast, the 18 year old who had troubled seeded players in 1954. But there was no danger of an upset. Although down 1-2 Magorian was well in control for the final two games which she won 21-13, 21-9.

Margaret Hoar had come to grief in the fourth round, losing to Mary Garden in five games after holding two match points in the fifth.

Bob Jackson v The Rest

When Bob Jackson, New Zealand’s undisputed master of sponge, reached the men’s singles final he had not lost a match, or even a single game, all season. His opponents on the way to the final were aware of his daunting record and seemed to offer little resistance. Until the quarter-finals nobody had even scored double figures against him. John Crossley was the first to achieve that distinction, losing his quarter-final 6-21, 12-21, 8-21.

One player determined to put up more of a fight was Garry Frew, Jackson’s opponent in the final. Frew had eliminated Owen Jaine in the quarter-finals and the rapidly improving sponge player Alan Tomlinson in the semi-finals. In the final against Jackson, Frew won the first game. Jackson’s response was to reach into his bag and pull out another bat. He then proceeded to win the next three games 21-17, 21-19, 21-18. It was an entertaining final with some superb rallies and remarkable retrieving by Jackson’s rangy 6’3” opponent. Both played a similar style – flourishing forehand drives of immense power supported by a solid backhand chop. The spectacle was enhanced by the contrast in bats – Frew’s hard pimple rubber countering Jackson’s thick sponge.

Two seeded players withdrew just prior to the championships. The absence of Murray Dunn and Neville Brightwell took some of the shine off the men’s singles from the quarter-final stage and also distorted the draw somewhat but one suspects it did not make a scrap of difference to the end result. Garry Frew, having his best season to date, had beaten Dunn at the North Islands (also won by Jackson); and Brightwell had lost the South Island final to Jackson 7-21, 6-21, 4-21.

Bob Jackson could never have enjoyed such a successful season without his array of sponge bats. Others were using sponge but none had managed to craft their game around it as Jackson had. He played mostly with thick grey Dolinar sponge on the forehand, which he had modified himself for extra fire-power; and thinner, harder black sponge on the backhand (industrial material originally sourced in New Zealand by Alan Tomlinson and known as the “black stuff”). A simple push on the black side would send the ball on an almost horizontal trajectory while the same shot on the grey side would make the ball dip quickly. Jackson’s concentration had become even more focused since he changed to sponge (it had to) and the extra speed, extra spin and extra concentration enabled him to also employ more variety in a tactical sense. On top of this he had developed a range of difficult serves. Everything considered, the man was simply unbeatable in 1955.

His doubles partner for the season was Alan Tomlinson, another player becoming increasingly sponge-savvy. The pair won the men’s doubles at the New Zealand, North Island and Auckland championships.

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Women Play Inter-Island Contest – By Default

The stop-start nature of the inter-island team contest was reinforced this year in the latest of a series of glitches that have dogged the event since 1951. That year carefully-laid plans were outlined for the first ever women’s inter-island event but, with the host Association unable to fully meet the cost, it was cancelled. So too was the men’s contest (refer 1951 article) which up till then had been held annually since 1946. The original all-male contest was restored in 1952 but no contests were held at all in 1953 and 1954. It was hoped that a fresh start could be made this year and applications were sought from Associations for the right to host either a men’s or a women’s contest, or both. NZTTA offered to partly subsidise any loss incurred by the host in an attempt to avoid the earlier difficulties. Only one application was received, from Auckland to host a men’s contest. In a re-run of the 1951 problem, the South Island team would only attend if they could travel by air. A commitment to pay for land travel was a condition of the application but Auckland would not agree to air travel. The contest foundered on that point but when four top South Island women were approached and did not insist on air travel, the way was clear for a women’s contest to replace the men’s.

South Island Favoured

The eight selected players assembled in Auckland two weeks after the NZ Championships to play the first inter-island contest since 1952. With three of NZ’s top four ranked women in the South Island team they were slight favourites but the North had Margaret Hoar, Charlotte Savage, Barbara Packwood and, sneaking onto the 1954 ranking list at #10, Manawatu’s rapidly improving Lois Rodgers. They were no easy-beats and were soon to prove it. Barbara Packwood had excellent wins over Joyce Williamson and June Magorian and in the lower half Lois Rodgers beat Joan Cox (pictured) and Pat Quinn. The North Island won three of the four doubles to secure a surprisingly decisive 9-3 win.

Packwood was the star of the contest overall. Somewhat under-estimated until now (despite having taken a game off Diane Rowe in 1953) her game improved markedly when she switched to sponge. The intricacies of sponge were a major factor in the North’s upset win. Packwood’s bat had regular pimpled rubber over a thin layer of sponge. Others in the North Island team (and Joyce Williamson in the South) used sponge in various forms although it made little difference to Margaret Hoar’s mainly defensive game. Lois Rodgers’ win over the NZ #4 Joan Cox was impressive. Another hard hitter, she advanced her ranking to #6 this year.

This was the first women’s inter-island contest ever held. A combined men’s and women’s contest would be played in 1956 and from 1957 the dual-gender event became part of the NZ Championships programme.

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“Player of Year” Award Introduced

The criteria for a new “Player of the Year” trophy was that it should be awarded to the player who displayed fighting spirit and had the most outstanding success throughout the year.

Choosing a winner this year could hardly have been easier. Much has already been said about Bob Jackson’s achievements in 1955. Suffice merely to add that he was the first person to win the North Island, South Island and New Zealand singles titles in one year (with five doubles titles in the same tournaments thrown in for good measure), and that his average winning score per game throughout the inter-Association teams competition was 21-6.

The decision to declare Bob Jackson the first winner of the “Player of the Year” trophy was unanimous.

As would become the tradition in future years, other players received “honourable mentions”. This year June Magorian, Garry Frew and Barbara Packwood were singled out at the presentation ceremony for their outstanding performances during the year.

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Succession of Plans For International Tours Fall Through

It was a case of so near yet so far – in not just one case but several. Australia had invited New Zealand to send a three-player team (all male) to tour their country in June and July with the itinerary to include four test matches. The invitation included a generous offer to pay all travel and accommodation costs to, from and within Australia but was on the condition that New Zealand hosts an Australian team under similar conditions in 1956. The long-term plan was for biennial exchange visits on a home and away basis. The offer was considered by the NZ Executive and agreed to on the condition that a manager accompany the team. To offset the additional cost sea travel was proposed in place of air travel. Six players were approached and all were available if selected. But the whole proposal fell through over the issue of the team manager. Australia could not afford the internal travel and accommodation costs for the extra person. There is no record of whether New Zealand offered to pay, or at least contribute to, the extra costs, or whether they seriously considered sending the team without a manager. The tour was cancelled in early June – the same month the team was scheduled to leave New Zealand.

There were further developments later in the year when Australia requested that New Zealand still host an Australian team in 1956 (as per the original proposal) and that Australia visit NZ in 1957. New Zealand was unable to oblige as an invitation had already been extended to women’s world champion Angelica Rozeanu to visit after the 1956 world championships. That invitation, regrettably, was eventually declined by the Romanian Association but not until early 1956 by which time it was too late to reconsider an Australian visit.

Other Plans Falter As Well

Michel Haguenauer offered to tour New Zealand with a French team but that offer was declined as the Frenchmen wished to come in March, outside the season for most Associations.

Then came news that the 1956 World Championships were to be held in Tokyo, Japan. On hearing of the venue table tennis supporters here urged NZTTA to seriously consider sending a team. Tokyo was as close as the championships would ever get. A similar case had been made for attending Bombay in 1952 and Tokyo was even closer. Excitement was generated in the media and a persuasive article in the June issue of NZ Sports Digest pleaded with NZTTA’s Norm Ballinger to reconsider his stated position opposing to the trip. But Ballinger’s influence was powerful – he was the Treasurer and had also managed the 1954 world championships team, thus being all too aware of the huge costs involved. Although his 1954 report had recommended regular trips to the championships, he had also stated that the large amount of fundraising needed, requiring co-operation from the whole country, rendered trips more frequent than five year intervals unviable.

It was finally decided to offer financial assistance to any player of sufficient standard willing to attend at their own expense but not to send an official team. The offer was not taken up and New Zealand was unrepresented in Tokyo.

Yet another plan to fall through was for an official team to attend the 1958 world championships. A long-term build-up plan was put in place but then the international federation voted to make the championships biennial from 1957. There would be no 1958 world tournament.

It was not a good year for NZTTA’s tours committee.

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Marathon Match

It’s moments (or hours, to be more accurate) like these that damage the reputation of table tennis. There have been long matches in the past, mostly (but not exclusively) involving women players. Outbidding them all for the ultimate honour was a match between Margaret Hoar and Joan Cox in the Auckland / Canterbury women’s team final. The first game alone lasted 2 hours 31 minutes.

“What satisfaction are these players receiving from such inane activity?” wrote Brian O’Brien in the NZ Sports Digest. “And even more important, what public disservice are they rendering table tennis, generally rated a fast indoor sport?”

There were reports that several people left to attend a show at a theatre a mile and a half away and returned two hours later to find not just the same match in progress, but the same game. One single rally outlasted a complete match on an adjoining table.

What About the Time Limit?

Up till 1949 the 20 minute time limit was applicable only to NZ individual events and not team contests but an executive decision that year ruled that the tournament manager had the option of invoking it in team matches. This had not been well communicated. The Hawke’s Bay championships organisers were not aware of the option but the tournament manager, on his own initiative, was able to persuasively expedite the second game and it concluded after only nine minutes. Margaret Hoar won the match 21-16, 21-16.

Hoar had lost to Cox at the North Island Championships and was aware that their match in the NZ teams final would be crucial, as indeed it turned out to be. Auckland won 7-5. Hoar had declared publicly that she would push every ball, even if it took till 3 am. With Cox known to be another dogged defender, and equally determined to win, a long match was a certainty.

Journalist Brian O’Brien was unforgiving. “We will not listen to the pointless bleat that a player has not a winning hit in her repertoire. When the ball is bouncing 18 inches high, slow and devoid of spin, a child of eight could be sure of hitting a winner. But not Misses Hoar and Cox, even though one has been five times NZ champion and the other the current North Island title-holder. No, they preferred to pat the ball back and forth, dead in the centre of the table as many as a thousand times per rally. It was only bad luck that points were scored at all.”

The lesson seems to have been learned. The clock was called for and the time limit applied much more often after this debacle.

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Franklin Stands Alone

Previously a sub-Association of Auckland, Franklin was by now a centre of rapid population growth and the sub-Association was led by a strong management team. This year it affiliated directly to NZTTA as an Association in its own right. It made a solid start, with 33 clubs and 63 interclub teams. It competed in both the men’s and women’s inter-Association teams competition and won three out of five contests - beating Northland, Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough, and losing only to Canterbury and Auckland.

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Opotiki Given a Nudge

Several small centres in the Bay of Plenty along with Rotorua and Tauranga were visited in a road trip by John Crossley and Murray Dunn. Exhibition matches were played by the two hard-hitting and exciting players while NZTTA Secretary Ken Wilkinson, travelling with them, informed clubs, work-places and church groups of the advantages of affiliating to the Bay of Plenty Association. One example of the value of the promotion was a visit to Opotiki where previously there had been no organised play at all. A club was formed as a direct result of the visit.

A similar promotion was carried out in 1946 on a much larger scale. Many parts of New Zealand were visited by five separate travelling groups on that occasion.

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