Evening star., 1947-07-06
Ends Long Domination
OF Barney; S|ugging
Bees Mark Match
By Lewis F. Atchison

Jim Thackara, tranSplanted New
Yorker, eliminated successful up
rising against Barney Welsh'e long
domination of Washington courts
yesterday, hammering the thin man
into submission in straight sets to
win the, District title at Kenwooo
Golf and Country Club. The scores
were Ga, 6-4, SO.
Some heralded Lord Barney's de-
feat as the end Of an era in local
tennis for Thackara's triumph, COM
ing hard on his victory over DR.
Dave johnson. left no doubt about
his right to the throne abdicated by
Allie Ritzenberg. johnson is the only
District player with a decision over
Thackara in tournament play, and
that was in The Star-sponsored
City of Washington before the new
champ reached his peak.
Thackara, an economist with the
World Bank, stood up with Welsh
in frequent slugging bees and
smoothly maneuvered Barney into
traps he couldn't escape. Thackara
played thoroughly offensive game
but the most important factor IN
his triumph was his ability to force
Welsh into errors. The new champ
had all his strokes and used them
as judiciously as chess master
Gallery Is Ast0nished.
Some 500 sunbaked fans watched
in silent establishment as the tall
lean Thackara ripped Welsh's game
apart. There were times whes ii
seemed that Thackars's brown
thatch might roll into the basket
like all Welsh's previous opponents
but the lad with the tooth-pick
chassis always had something In
reserve. Usually it was placement
that couldn't have been painted
more accurately. On other occasions
it was a drop shot that had less
bounce than an overripe tomato
and hit we'll beyond Welsh's out
stretched racket.
Thackara. who took the first
game of each set, was behind only
once, early In the first set when
Welsh threatened to blast him of
the court. Thereafter he had mat
ters well under control, handcuffing
Barney with his smooth, even style,
It was discouraging for Welsh to
see everything he raped across the
net knocked back at him and all
too frequently on brilliantly exc
cuted passing shots. Barney scored
only one ace, the clinching point OF
the seventh game in the final set
but refused credit for it,. saying
his opponent was asleep on the
shot. Each man double-faulted
only once.
Welsh Shoots Works.
Barney went down like a real
champion when 1t was apparent
the Jig was up. He tried all the
strategy at his command, blasting
the baseline, charging the net at
every opportunity, and even resort
ing to drop shots. But he might
as well have tried to sink battle
ship with a pea shooter for Thack-
ara took everything and heaved it
back at him.
Peculiarly, Welsh played some OF
his best tennis in the final set when
only a miracle could have saved
him from defeat Time and again
he exploded cross s-court shots that
caught Thackara completely out of
position, but it was too late in the
match to rescue the fat from the
fire. It is significant that Welsh
went down swinging, for the match
point was a high voltage baseline
drive that missed by a couple OF
feet. y
Later Barney and his wife
dropped a mixed doubles match to
Alphonso and Priscilla Smith,
ga, 81, which advanced the lat
ter to today's final. Don Leavens
and Libby Prince defeated Phil
Love and Pearl Mccoy, 60, O.,
to gain the other mixed doubles
final berth.
Leavens earlier teamed with
Davey johnson and whipped John
Curtiss and Bill Clifford. 6I4, Ga,
to enter the mems double final.
They will meet Welsh and Thackara
today at $3.50 pm.