Evening star., 1939-07-07
Welsh 10 Meet Either
Lynch or johnson
For Local Title
Army Choice Over Navy
First Time Since 1925
In Tilt Tomorrow
BY BILL DISMER. JR.

the 1899 District mems tennis cham
pionship decided or the biennial
Army-Navy Leach Cup matches
must be made by local net fans
tomorrow as two country clubs share
the tWo-star week end net program.
Out at Columbia, six-time cham
pion Barney Welsh will meet either
Hugh Lynch or David johnson, de-
pendent upon the outcome of their
seml-final match, while over at
Army-Navy, Uncle Sans soldiers
and sailors seem certain to attract
the large gallery they always do.
Both events will start at 2:30
o'clock.
Probably the more magnetic point
Will be the club over Arlington way
where, for the first time since 1925,
Army appears the winner. Although
both team captains, Capt. Joe R.
Sherr OF the Army, and 1t. Comdr.
l.. T. Haugen of the Navy, have
exercised extreme wariness about
pre-match statements, one couldn't t
help but detect long absent note
OF confidence in the soldiers and
one OF pessimism in the sailors.
Army Strength Admitted.
Both captains are acting tradi-
tionally secretive, but informed OBJ
servers openly admit that Army has
Its strongest team since it was the
victor in the first two Leech Cup
matches, in 1924 and '25. Navy
probably has the weakest squad it
has had in some years.
Indicative of it's determination
to stop Navy's string of conquests
which now stand at nine, Army has
summoned its outstanding players
from as far as the West Coast and
Alabama. Navy can point only to
Florida as its most distant recruit
ing point and probably it's best play
er, 1t. James McCue, has not been
called from his California post.
AS a matter of fact, Army had
so many evenly-matched players
here this week who stayed after the
an-Army tournament, that Capt.
Sherr had to run challenge tour
ney to determine his best netmen.
Surprising, to say the least, was
Sherr's statement today that Capt.
Stan Robinson, an old familiar face
when he was at Boiling Field, who
came here from CALIFORNIA; for last
weeks tournament and tomorrow
matches, probably will not play
singles for Army, which he has done
for the last eight or nine years.
Three Army Men Stand Out.
But with Dolf Muelheisen. its best
bet, coming on from the Coast; 1t.
Rollins, West Points No. l player,
and 1t. G. c. Russell, the defeated
champion of the recent tournament
but still ace high in his teammates
opinion, Army seems to have three
standout players for three of the
four singles encounters. The fourth
berth will be filled by one of the
following: Its. Gil Bell, H. B.
Thatcher, Capt. J. H. Drake or Staff
Sergt. S. N. Lapsley. Only one
doubles team has been named by
Capt. Sherr. Rollins and Russell,
who played together as West Points
No. team last year, will be Army's
lead-of pair in the team competi-
ton.
Navy, on the other hand. not only
is lacking some of its former win
ming players. but two of its starters
tomorrow have played little tennis
recently. 1t. Comdr. Morgan Watt,
who has taken part in all but one
of the II previous matches, reports
that he hasn't played regularly for
three years Illness kept him out of
the 81 match. Another lieutenant
commander, DR.. Gerry Smith of
Philadelphia. is another old Navy
standby who will be in the lineup,
but the last two weeks have seen
him play his first tennis in months.
Two local racketers may play Nos.
l and for Navy with Its. Jimmy
Farrin and Bill Howard its ap-
parent leaders. Comdr. Haugen may
experiment with couple of ensigns,
Robert Laney and E. A. Grantham.
Laney graduated only last month
while Grantham left two years ago.
Howard and Farrin loom as the only
certain doubles combination.
Cup Donor Absent.
Four singles and three doubles will
comprise the match.
A. Y. Leech, jr., the local donor of
the trophy, has been called out Of
town on business and will not be
present to present his cup. Austin
Rice has been appointed official ref
cree.
The District tourney at Columbia
this afternoon was to set the stage
for its final rounds tomorrow and
Sunday. The winner of the Lynch
johnson match will meet Welsh for
the singles title, while today's semi
final doubles victors will play for
the team championship on Sunday.
Welsh yesterday defeated Dooly
Mitchell, Ga, 8-6. The scores are
indicative of the stubborn resistance
Mitchell offered, but the lean bar
rister was a bit too potent for him.
Later they joined forces and de-
feated Baker and Deck, Ga, 60.
Today Welsh and Mitchell face
Shore end Russell, who yesterday
eliminated Ritzenberg and Turner,
6-3, 60. Lynch and johnson, who
eliminated Stocklinski and Brinker-
hoff, 4-6, 60, 8-6, are slated to
oppose Smith and Murphy, dark
horse combination.
Mixed doubles also are on today's
program with the team of Miller
Rice facing Train Ryan in the initial
contest. The program gets under
way at o'clock.
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