Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-01-01
1925 WAS GREAT
YEAR FOR HOLDERS
OF WORLD TITLES

Uf WUklU uLcN
| New York, Dec. 31.-(By The AS
ISOLATED Press)-The sport tide of
a new year, surging forward under
| the impetus of youthful ambition,
| rises threateningly before stalwart
| veterans who withstood the cham
pionship tests of 1925 with an almost
unbroken front.
On it's crest floats the almost dere-
| lict heavyweight challenge of Harry
| Wills, buffeted by many storms and
| spurned for long by an idle title
| holder. Near this challenge looms
a large and victory marked fistic
| gauntlet, hurled down by Gene Tun-
ney. Both have been guaranteed
acceptance by Jack Dempsey during
! the outdoor season, in spite of the
| fact that fandom has it's doubts
about the prospects of Dempsey's
return to the ring.
| Defiance to other mighty wielders
| of sport sCeptres floods in with the
new year. William Tilden, six-time
winner Of the national singles tennis
| crown; Walter Hagen, Macdonald
Smith and Jim Barnes, holders of
| many links honors over the stretch
| of a decade or more; Rogers Horns
| by and Harry HeiIman, Major
| League batting leaders, and Willie
| Hoppe, veteran billiard wizard, are
only a few of the veteran campaign
ers whose courses seem shaped for
rough and eventful voyaging.
Few years have yielded greater
] glory for defending champions than
I those who last page will be turned
| tonight. Tennis called forth its net
leaders from Europe, the Orient and
| Australia to overthrow Tilden but
he remains to take up the fight anew
| from the throne, after brilliant vic
| tories which rescued him from the
| brink of defeat at the hands of the
French pair, Jean Borotra and Rene
! Lacoste, rs we'll as his California ri
val, Little Bilr' Johnston.
| Vincent Richards, from whom
! much was expected, fell below his
1923 form, lost five of his seven
matches against Tilden, and then fin
ished with brilliant flourish by up
| setting the national champion in an
indoor exhibition.
Can Tilden fight off the ever-in-
creasing thrust of youth another
year, or the still brilliant experience
of Johnston? Perhaps an initial an
swer to one part of the question will
| be provided in the approaching ma
! tlonal indoor title tournament, where
| Tllden expects to face both Richards
| and Borotra again. 1t was in the
same event nearly seven years ago
| that Richards first startled the net
| world by defeating the Philadelph1an
in the final round. Borotra won the
| tournament here last winter.
| The third successive trillO0n1 of
| Helen Wills, women's net champion,
| was sufficiently impressive this year
| to focus a maximum of interest on
| the California girls trip to Europe,
| which seems likely to offer oppor-
| tunity for conquest of the brilliant
| Suzanne Lenglen, vainly attempted
| by Mrs. Molla Mallory in 1922 and
1928.
The bid of a new fight Of golfing
| stars for the 1925 national amateur
| championship, while it received
| recognition through the brilliant per-
tormances of Watts Gum of Atlanta,
7 and Dick Jones of New York. not
only failed to overthrow existing rule,
| but was partly overshadowed by the
! comebackS of professional stars of
other years. Bobby Jones again
| stroked his way to victory decisively
| enough to indicate that his grip on
| the amateur crown is not likely to be
| shaken in 1926 while Jim Barnes and
| Macdonald Smith returned to their
/ places of former glory, the farmer
/ by winning the British open title.
Walter Hagen's skill at match play
| so we'll withstood a nerve wracking
| test in winning the professional
! championship for the second success
| sive season as to forecast another
| reign of the veteran professional
| Observation-Disclosures. Smith and
! Hagen. Willie MacFarlane. national
/ open winner, slumped toward the end
! of the season. due largely to impair
| ed vision and his chance of repeating
! does not appear so bright.
Glenna Collett who regained the
| worlds golfing peak she occupied in
! 1922, also will be called upon to face
a steadily improving field of younger
! players in defense of her, title next
| year. But it is doubtful if the OBJ
| position of youthful 'challengers, led
| by, such stars as--Englewood. n.
! j., school girl. Maureen circuit. will
! be more pronounced than that of
| such seasoned players as Miss Mar
| ion Hollins. Mrs. Dorothy Campbell
| Hurd, Miss Mary x. Browne and
| Mrs. Alexa Stirling Fraser.
What of Babe Ruth? Stung by
| disappointment and criticism, the
erstwhile home-run king, has already
| begun training TO regain the Ameri-
can League batting title he lost to
! Heilmann, and the circuit clouting
crown he relinquished to Hornsby.
Ruth has risen from the gloom of
| cutting defeat before. Disciplined and
repentant, Ruth has set to work
| vigorously to restore himself to fay-
! or: and his followers predict new
! and greater achievements for the
J Yankee star.
The veteran Hoppe. already de-
prived of the 1872 balkline champion
! ship. which recently passed to Ed
Guard Horemans Of Belgium after n
! sensational match with Jake Schae-
fer, is now confronted with challeng-
ers for his one remaining title, the
1871 crown.
Other sport leaders seem destined
I to another year of successes, includ-
| ing the fleet Finnish distance runner.
| Willie Ritola. the new cycling king,
! Freddy Spencer. and those two
| powerful wielders of the padded
! gloves-Harry Greb, veteran cham
| pion of the middleweights and