Table Tennis Makes World Headlines – Communist China Hosts World Championships

This was an event of world significance – the biggest sporting event conducted in China since the communist revolution of 1949.

It was also historically significant for New Zealand – the first officially selected New Zealand team to attend the World Championships since 1954 and the first ever to include both men and women.

The seven member team was announced last November. A remarkable aspect was that all three in the women’s team were from Northland, and, even more remarkable, two of them were teenagers and one only 14 – just one year older than the youngest competitor at the championships, a 13 year old Ghanaian.

The trip lasted from 24 March to 24 April. There were lengthy spells of road, rail and air travel as well as pre-event warm-up matches in the Philippines and Thailand, and friendly matches in Thailand and Singapore on the way home. The actual Championships in Peking lasted only 8 days. 222 players competed, representing 32 countries.

The New Zealand team was:

Murray Dunn, Captain (Wellington) – age 25; current NZ singles and doubles champion; came within 2 points of dethroning legendary Bob Jackson at 1958 NZ Championships; was a member of NZ team at 1954 World Championships when aged 18. Renowned for his lethal backhand drive.

Alan Tomlinson (Auckland) – age 27; runner-up to Dunn at last NZ Championships; brought Bob Jackson’s 7 year continuous reign as NZ Champion to an end in 1959; played all four tests against Japan in 1957 (mainly in doubles) and beat Ogimura in Auckland/Japan contest.

Bryan Foster (Otago) – age 21; current South Island singles and doubles champion and only South Islander in team; played two tests against Japan in 1957 when aged 17.

Garry Frew (Northland) – age 25; strong doubles player and current NZ men’s and mixed doubles champion; played two tests against Japan in 1957 and was runner-up to NZ Champion Bob Jackson in the same year; was a member of NZ team at 1954 World Championships when aged 18.

Neti Davis (Northland) – age 17; current singles, doubles, mixed doubles and junior champion; winner of 15 NZ titles; played for NZ against Japan in 1960 (mainly in doubles); won NZ mixed doubles in 1958 (with Garry Frew) at age 14. Shows total composure in all situations.

Joan Green (Northland) – age 26; emigrated from Australia in January, 1960; won 1960 North Island singles as an unseeded player; ranked No 1 in Australia (as Joan Mulconry) in 1957; New South Wales Champion in 1956. The only left-hander in the team.

Norma Attwood (Northland) – age 14; NZ under 16 champion; defeated top seed to reach NZ open singles semi-final in 1959 at age 13. Has unorthodox grip and wrist action and uses the same side of the bat for both forehand and backhand.

Ken Wilkinson, Manager (Wellington) – age 44; NZTTA Secretary since 1949; energetic and methodical organizer.

Norma Attwood (L) and Joan Green

New Zealand’s results were unspectacular but creditable enough in such elite company. Good team wins were recorded by the men against Cuba (5-0), and by the women against Ghana and North Vietnam (both 3-0). There were no play-offs for non section-winners so New Zealand was not given an official final placing.

In the individual events Alan Tomlinson put up a sterling fight against former Japanese champion Nobuya Hoshino while Norma Attwood did well to eliminate Tai Pei-Mei from China in the first round.

Chinese players dominated the Championships with Japan also to the fore.

It was a memorable experience for the New Zealand team. The opening ceremony featured three orchestras and a 300 voice chorus. The stadium seated 15,000 and was located next to a 100,000 seat outdoor facility which incorporated accommodation for 1,500 sports students. There were regular sightseeing trips organized, including a bumpy 6 hour return bus trip to the Great Wall. Several banquets with Chinese Premier Chou En-Lai in attendance were held for all teams.

Just travelling to the championships was an adventure in itself. The final stage of the trip to Peking was a 9½ hour flight from Canton, incorporating three stops. The aircraft had no air conditioning or pressurisation.

A huge amount of coverage was devoted to the event by the New Zealand press. Even the friendly and warm-up matches played en route and on the way home (in the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore) were reported in great detail. After returning home team member Garry Frew, a professional journalist, wrote a series of ten features entitled “Asian Adventure” for his local daily, the Northern Advocate.

Multiple interviews were given by team members before and after the trip. Without exception, they defined it as the experience of a lifetime.

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Miss K Leads the Way

Throughout the period of the World Championships in Peking the seven New Zealand team members and their manager were totally at the mercy and whim of their ultra-efficient team chaperone / liaison officer / interpreter, a five foot nothing bundle of energy named Miss Kang. She controlled everything: where each team member sat on the bus, the exact position of the identification badges on their clothing, the speed at which they moved from exhibit to exhibit at museums (ie, top speed, maintained by the occasional push) – and everything else. She was with the team every moment of the day and night. “It was irksome at times,” said a diplomatic Ken Wilkinson, the team manager. “But necessary.”

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Change To Pen-Grip, Urges Team Captain

Murray Dunn, the captain of the New Zealand team at the World Championships, went public on his return to New Zealand to express his view that the only way for our players to come anywhere near matching the world’s best was for them to change to the pen-grip style of holding the bat. Having just witnessed the superiority of the Chinese and Japanese pen-grip players, he maintained that now is the time to take action in New Zealand. “Let’s strike while the iron is hot,” he said. “Let’s bring in an eastern coach and have our players instructed in the art of pen-grip play.”

His recommendation was seriously debated, and considered at the next NZ Annual Meeting. Ultimately, no action was taken. In later years, top European players using the conventional handshake grip began matching pen-grippers and an increasing number of Asian players abandoned the pen-grip. But pen-grip players continued to rank among the world’s best for many years to come.

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Loop Drive Imported From China

The New Zealanders’ trip to the World Championships exposed them to a shot rarely seen in New Zealand before - the slow loop drive. Alan Tomlinson and Bryan Foster were early exponents of the shot and before long other top players and many juniors in New Zealand were experimenting with it. By the mid-1960s its use was widespread. The shot required smooth (reverse-pimple) rubber over sponge and was played by imparting heavy topspin in a grazing upward motion. The ball drifted high over the net but kicked fast and low when it hit the table. The tactic could be used very effectively to create openings for the kill shot.

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Trivial Dispute Results in Banning of Top Player

Geoff Jennings was billed £17.10.0 ($35) by the Australian Table Tennis Association for the dress uniform (blazer and trousers) he was issued with for his tour of New Zealand in 1960, representing Australia. He agreed to pay for the trousers but not the blazer, claiming it should be a free entitlement for any representative player. Australia would accept all or nothing so issued an order banning him from all table tennis on account of an unpaid debt.

He moved to New Zealand later in 1960 and had taken up a coaching position with the Wellington Association when the ban was imposed. He applied for a dispensation allowing him to at least play in New Zealand. When the New South Wales Association opposed the application New Zealand was obliged to apply the ban here as an agreement to abide by each others rulings existed between Australia and New Zealand.

Thus, from 8 May, 1961 one of the best players in Australasia was prevented from playing. Jennings was ranked No 1 in Australia in 1961, even though not living there, and he had been invited to captain Australia at the 1961 World Championships, an invitation he declined. In due course, Jennings relented and paid the money. The ban was lifted on 1 July, in time for him to play in the North Island Championships.

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NZ Championships: Titles Retained

Coincidentally the men’s and women’s singles titles were not only retained by the 1960 champions, but the two players were destined to continue winning right through to 1963, making a total of four NZ singles titles in succession for both. The women’s champion, Neti Davis, went on to claim four more in later years although not all in succession.

But Neti Davis’s 1961 win was against the odds considering her form earlier in the NZ Championships week. She lost a singles in the North/South contest, two in the Northland/Canterbury match and one each against Otago and Wanganui. But, come the individual events her confidence returned and she reached the quarter-finals without losing a game. She then relished the chance to turn the tables on June Magorian, the former champion who had beaten her in the Northland/Otago contest. Davis won in four games and took out the semi-final against South Island champion June Shadbolt, also in four. Then came one of the memorable NZ singles finals. In front of her home crowd in Lower Hutt, Joan Brown (pictured) had already disposed of second seed Norma Attwood and must have seen this as her best chance to win her first NZ singles title, at the age of 29. But Neti had other ideas and won the first two games 21-11, 21-16. Then her concentration lapsed in the face of Brown’s tenacious defence and the third game turned into a cliff-hanger. Despite holding two match points, Davis lost the game 23-25 and, after leading most of the way, also lost the fourth, 19-21. In the fifth it was the experienced Joan Brown that wilted, letting the game slip after leading 10-6 at the change. Carefully picking her shots and timing her run to perfection (aided a little by two edge balls), Neti Davis overhauled her opponent and won 21-18.

In the men’s final between the 1959 and 1960 champions the 1960 champion started brilliantly and kept getting better. Murray Dunn gave Alan Tomlinson no room whatsoever and won decisively 21-18, 21-12, 21-10. Both players had gone into the nationals with excellent seasons behind them. Dunn had recorded only two losses (both to Bryan Foster) and Tomlinson only three (all to Dunn). Dunn had turned the tables on Foster in the semi-finals and Tomlinson had beaten Garry Frew.

It was a clean sweep for Dunn – he retained the men’s doubles with Frew and combined with women’s singles runner-up Joan Brown to take the mixed doubles. NZ representatives Neti Davis and Joan Green were beaten by Norma Attwood and Barbara Packwood in the final of the women’s doubles.

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Semaphore Board Experiment Fails

New Zealand Championships host Hutt Valley experimented with the use of numbers instead of player names on the semaphore board. The experiment appears to have been largely responsible for long delays and late finishes. There was even an instance of slow hand-clapping.

The numbers were frustrating to spectators who had to refer to their programmes (if they had one) to identify who was playing on any table, or who was supposed to be playing but had not shown up. It was players not reporting for their matches that caused most of the hold-ups. Under the standard system others in the stadium would know immediately who was being called for an empty table and chase up the missing player.

The Association defended its use of the number system and, it must be acknowledged, the system has been used successfully overseas. Compounding the problem at the NZ Championships was the failure of the hosts to trial the system in advance, and a severe shortage of staff. More volunteers would undoubtedly have kept the matches moving faster.

NZTTA officials concluded that the number system should be discouraged in the future and resolved from now on to take a closer interest in national tournaments at the preparation stage, particularly regarding staffing levels.

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Auckland Finally Toppled

Auckland’s inter-association supremacy came to an end this year when Wellington won the men’s A grade title and Northland the women’s. Co-incidentally, both these associations would continue winning for four years in succession before in turn being toppled in 1965.

Auckland had won the men’s competition every year from 1949 to 1960 with the single exception of 1954 when Wellington won. Auckland had won four of the last five women’s titles.

The respective NZ teams finals were absorbing encounters. The Northland women faced Canterbury and had to compensate for a sadly out of form Neti Davis who lost two of her three singles and one of her two doubles. But Northland had the depth of talent to compensate more than adequately. Norma Attwood won her three singles and her doubles with Joan Green. Green won two singles and Northland won 8-4.

Auckland’s title was always in danger as they approached the men’s final. They had won in 1960 without Bob Jackson but this year Wellington had Australian star Geoff Jennings as well as reigning NZ Champion Murray Dunn. The final score was 9-3 to Wellington. For Auckland Alan Tomlinson won two singles and George Wilkinson one. Wellington won all three doubles.

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Rotorua Hosts North Island Championships

By hosting the North Island Championships the Rotorua Association elevated its national profile to an unprecedented level and were at the same time seriously contemplating a bid for the 1963 NZ Championships. That ultimately didn’t happen and 1961 remained the Association’s major triumph on the tournament front although it had also pulled in huge audiences for the 1957 and 1960 matches against the Japanese.

The organizing team for the North Islands was deservedly complimented on its efforts. Playing conditions, especially lighting, were excellent and spectator support was very good.

Anticipated with interest was the performance of Geoff Jennings, back in the game with the lifting of his ban (refer above). He was seeded third but was capable of beating anyone. The women’s event was likely to culminate in a battle between the Northland “giants” who were seeded 1, 2 and 3 (Davis, Attwood and Green, in that order). But the recent Northland Championships had thrown the order of seeding into doubt: Joan Green had beaten Neti Davis and Norma Attwood had beaten Joan Green.

As it turned out, the seedings were accurate. In the semi-finals Davis beat 1958 and 1959 champion Joan Brown and Attwood beat Joan Green, the reigning North Island champion. In an absorbing, see-sawing final Neti Davis beat Norma Attwood 21-15, 11-21, 21-10, 12-21, 21-15. It was her first North Island title but not unexpected as she was the current NZ champion.

The sensation of the men’s singles was the early defeat of Geoff Jennings by Wairarapa player Ivan Houghton. Jennings, who had earlier declined an offer to captain the Australian team at the World Championships, was a little out of touch and Houghton’s steadiness was sufficient to counter the unusually rare flashes of brilliance from Jennings. It was a close match nonetheless. Houghton won 15-21, 17-21, 22-20, 23-21, 21-14.

Bryan Foster, capable of dealing with the best around on his day, was the other giant killer. Seeded fourth behind Murray Dunn, Alan Tomlinson and Jennings, Foster’s semi-final win over Dunn was the match of the tournament. It was a five-game thriller in which the hard-hitting Dunn found Foster’s spectacular long-range defence just too impenetrable. Foster won 19-21, 13-21, 21-13, 21-17, 21-19.

With Jennings eliminated and 5th seed Garry Frew on Foster’s side of the draw (and another of his victims), Alan Tomlinson had an easier run. The final was an anti-climax with Tomlinson beating Foster 21-7, 21-12, 21-16. It was Tomlinson’s second North Island singles title.

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Future Chairman Draws a Crowd

When a crowd of people swarmed from the main hall into the supper room at the North Island Championships in Rotorua it had nothing to do with supper. The room, used to accommodate extra tables away from the main spectator area, was the repository for matches no-one was interested in watching. One such match was a first round singles between rotund pen-gripper Alf Harding (who was there for the veteran events and only entered the open singles for fun), and third seed Geoff Jennings – a one-sided contest if ever there was one. But the avuncular Alf won the first game. Word got through to the main hall and before long the table was surrounded by several dozen spectators. The former Australian No 1 pulled himself together and won the next game. “I coasted after that,” said Alf. “I wanted to save myself for the veterans.”

By the end of their respective careers Alf Harding was by far the better known of the two. Already a member of the NZTTA Executive Committee, he was destined to chair it for 12 years. He was also a professional journalist and well known, particularly in Wellington, for his often opinionated but prolific writing on table tennis in the Evening Post and Sports Post.

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Concern Over Dropping Membership

Over the five years up to and including 1961 there was an 11% drop in the number of clubs throughout the country and, even more alarmingly, a drop from 16,234 to 12,948 (20%) in the number of subscribing members. These figures were clearly a cause for concern and District Associations were urged to take action to arrest the decline. At this stage no nationwide strategy was applied or formulated.

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Table Tennis on TV

With television in its infancy (transmission began in New Zealand in 1960) Associations were keen to check out the image of table tennis on the new medium. An exhibition match between Wellington players Murray Dunn and John Crossley was recorded for later transmission and aired on 28 August.

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Ohakune Finds a Home; Buller Moves in with West Coast

When the country was being carved up and borders within which District Associations could be formed were drawn, an area named “Southern King Country” was delineated and for many years NZTTA was endeavouring to have an Association established there. But the only centre in the area to show interest was Ohakune, a town too small to justify full Association status. To ensure the activity there was maintained, Ohakune players affiliated to Wanganui. However with the formation of Taumarunui and Districts into an Association in 1960, Ohakune was able to transfer its allegiance much closer to home. The transfer was effected on 15 August.

Meanwhile the Buller Association chose to discontinue its existence as a full affiliated member of NZTTA and become a Sub-Association of West Coast. Buller had functioned as an Association since 1952.

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