Southland badminton interprovincial tournament in 1978

Four interprovincial ties were being played at Badminton in Invercargill in 1978.  In the junior grades Southland Gold is to play Southland Country and Southland Maroon is to play Otago.  Both Southland teams had a 16-0 win last outing as well as Southland Country when it played North Otago.

The depth of the Country team may surprise a few people and there is no doubt that they can achieve a win over the Maroon team.  While there is plenty of interest in this game it is more the senior match that will draw the spectators.  Although Southland has beaten Otago over the past two season, it looks like this time will be a lot harder as Otago has some notable players as Commonwealth Games representative, Steven Wilson whose clash with Peter Skelt is eagerly awaited.  When the pair played each other three weeks ago it was an epic three game thriller with Wilson being the victor.
Nigel Skelt is back from a serious leg injury and after nine weeks out of action will probably be dropped down the order.
Mike Lindsay has been impressive in practice and he should account for either J. Hoffman or P. Lai.  Murray McCartney should cope with Allan Ball the recently recruited Otago junior.
It looks like the outcome will depend on the womens games with Southland top woman, Lyn Roy beating Phillipa Jones who is a recent gain for Otago and is a member of the national junior Uber Cup squad.
Roy will have to be at her best as will other members of her team, Barbara Lindsay, Dorothy Southby and Robyn Brown if they want to contain their opposites.
The recent invitation tournament showed that the Otago woman are a much improved unit but Southland is known for their strong double combinations and this should pull them through.

Reference:  The Southland Times May 1978

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