Page to, The Herald. Monday January 19, 1981 , Magnificent Swede goes in by back door NEW YORK (AP) — Bjorn Borg says the Grand Prix Masters will not become a major tennis tournament as long as a Player can lose a match and still win the cham- Pionship. It was that road the magnificent Swede travelled before destroying Ivan Lendl 6-4, 6-2, 62 Sunday for the $100,000 first prize in the $400,000 event. Both finalists had con- troversial losses Friday after qualifying for semifinals with two vic- tories om the first two rounds of round-robin play. “To compare with the big tournaments, | think this would have to be changed toa knockout format,” said Borg. ‘You get a lot of situations like Friday when players have already qualified for the semifinals and they don't play as hard.” Borg defended the play af Lendl in his loss to Jimmy Connors. after which the Czech was criticized for quitting when he got behind. Connors called Lendl chicken after beating him 7-6, 6-1, with the second sel taking only 17 minutes and Lendl winning only 10 points. “Why should ‘someome play hard for four or five hours and maybe still lose and then have to conie back a few hours Later to play a. tough match?" Borg asked. Borg lost 6-0, 6-3 in his virtually meaningless ‘ match with Gene Mayer, but that Borg was nothing like the one who defeated Lendl with machinelike precision on Sunday. Borg outlasted his op- ponent in long baseline rallies and was nearly flawless when he came to thenet, When Lendl saw an opening and hit a hard shot. into the vacant space, the Swede always seemed to be there to retrieve the ball. “I ied.ta do different things, but. nothing worked,” Lend) said. “1 “think I served belter yesterday (in the semifinal Saturday), but I dido’t - serve badly ‘today. “Bjamn was just Fetur- _ ning everything.” Lendlis only 20 years old, but the “lanky = tour newcomer had two vic- tories against Borg last _ year, one when Borg retired with an injury from » the final in the Canadian Open at Toronto and the other when he beat Borg in ” Switzerland. Borg and seven other top players compete in Toronto, Féb. 7, ii; a: $500,000 tournament. *.° - John McEnroe ond Peter * (Fleming wea the: doubles ‘title for the third straight - year when they beal Paul ‘MeNamara and Paul McNamee of Australia, 6-4, §-3. NEW YORK (AP) — Qne Bjorn Borg is sensational — a mar- velous tennis talent, mentally tough, as unbreakable as steel, quick, almost flawless in stroke execution. But two Bjorn Borgs across the net from each other — Heaven help us. It's sa boring it can put thousands, even mil- lions, to sleep. Such was the case in Sunday's $400,000 Grand Prix Masters final at HIS OPPONENT CAME OFF ASSEMBLY LINE Madison Square Gar- den, in which the un- flappable Swede swept past young ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia 6-4, 6- 2, 6-2, You could hear the snores drown out the applause of the 18,297 in the packed Garden arena. Television viewers must have been getting up every few minutes to grab another beer from the refrigeralor or do a quick switch of the dial to see what the basketball: skyscrapers were doing on another network. Not that the tennis wasn't good. Borg was‘ the epitome of the man who won five French titles and stormed through the last five Wimbledons. [t was just that Borg vs. Borg spells monotony. Lendl, the 20-year-old newest net prodigy off the Czechoslovakian assembly line, is a clone of his Swedish idol. He, as Borg, likes to sland on the baseline and wham those moonball loopers over the net — all day long if necessary. So what da you get in the $100,000 windup match? Prolonged rallies that frequently saw the ball cross the net 2) or 20 times. Borg usually hit the last one. Tt was deadly. All the electricity you see generated at Wimbledon = or Flushing Meadow tor the U.S. Open when Borg tests his mur- derous consistency - against the net-rushing daring of John McEnroe or the guisy, neversay- die spirit of Jimmy Connors was missing. “The ‘guy is a machine, no doubt about that,” commented Jack Kramer, America's greal champion of the 160s. “He is certainly the most consistent player i in the world, but I can’t understand anyone irying to beat him at his own game.” Don Budge, ane of the’ * only two men ever ta score tennis’ Grand Slam (winning the Aust- ralian, French, Wim- bleton and US. in a single year, 1938), agr- eed. “It’s hard for me to understand the men- _ tality of anyone who will stand ott their and try to hit with Borg all day. You can't beat a man who says, ‘If you hit 50 balls back, I'll hit 31,'and then does it.” Both Kramer and Budge *ere among the mass of spectators bored stiff by the spectacle which, as the climax of the worldwide professional tour, should have provided the apex in tension and high drama. 7 dally herald Old faces on the ice VANCOUVER (CP) — It might lock like a new field at first glance but there will be some familiar names at the Pacific Coast Curling Association playdowns. {t's the first trip for Ron Thompson (as a skip) and Glen Hillson [rom Zone 3, Ed Dézura from Zone 2, Rob Cummings, Gary Wright and Jim Gallaugher from Zone 1. They'll be matching strategy Jan. 30-Feb. 1 in North Vancouver with veterans like Beraie Sparkes, after a two-year absence, Brent Giles and Gien Pierce. Despite the fact the PCCA doubled the number of rinks to the finals to 16 from eight, few of last year's finalists were back in the hunt. Pierce is back via the Totem Bonspiel for the third straight year, and Wayne Statton of Chilliwack returned from the Fraser Valley zone. Two berths were still being decided late Sunday _ Hight in Richmond. Statton won the B berth at Richmond Sunday af- ternoon and joined Dezura, the A side winner. Statton beat Rick Pughe, of Ab- botsford, $-6 in the B final. Among the spectators this year, however, are B.C. Brier representative Tim Horrigan, fivetime PCCA finalist Gary Si- gurdson of Vancouver and Barry Naimark zane One on Vancouver Island, which had five spots taaward, will send an entirely new slate this year but Steve Skillings of Victoria and Bob Gallaugher, now of Dun- can, have reached the PCCA finals before. Cummings of Victoria - and Skillings were the A winners while Wright and Bob Gallaugher won the B spots and brother: Jim Gallaugher of Victoria took the C berth in the eight-rink triple knockout format. In Zone Three at Bur- maby, Thompson, third for Sparkes: for three years before branching cut on his own this campaign and Giles, who went to the Brier with Sparkes as an 1§-year-old in 1972, won the two A berths. Thompson. had little difficulty disposing of Hillson in the A semi-final 93 in nine ends. Hillson shook off the defeat and claimed a B side berth by whipping Sigurdson 124 in eight ends. Giles wasted little time against Sparkes in the other A semi-final with a 6- 2 seven-end win, Sparkes also bounced back with a 4- 2 win over Rob Gari. of -the provincial Vancouver to claim the other B side berth. The zone qualifiers. will join Totem qualifiers Pierce, Gerry Gray of North Vancouver and Jim Walker of Delta in the PCCA finals. The four finalists there will advance against the best four rom the BC.. Curling Association Feb. 58 in Prince Rupert. The sur- vivor will represent B.C. in the Canadian cham- pionships in Halifax, March 1-4. In women's play, ’ Heather Haywood of Rich- mond, a twetime B.C, champion, beat Bernice McCallan twice to win the women's District Seven title .in Vancouver. Haywood beat McCallan ¢- 2 Saturday night and 53 Sunday and advances to cham- pionship in Victoria Feb. 6 “Ih. 4 * A doubtful distinction won LONDON (CP) — English soccer players said goodbye to the ominous red and yellow violation cards Saturday and, though Aretic weather caused numerous cancellations, competition to be ameng the last to draw a card was as keen as on the average rowdy weekend. Doubtfu] distinction of being the last man to depart in response to the referee's red card, which signalled ejection from the match, was shared by Orient defender Nigel Gray and Cardiff's Gary Stevens, The two were banished from a Second Division match in East London for trading punches five minutes from the end of the game, which ended in a 2-2 tie. Two players were thrown out of a First Division match in which Man- chester City beat visiting Middlesbrough 2-2 on a late goal by Tommy Hulchison. Manchester's Nicky Reid and Middlesbrough's Dave Hodgson were sent off for fighting. Cold and wet weather, highlighted by a snowstorm in Scotland on Friday, caused cancel- lation of 12 matches in England and 17 in Scotland. The biggest garne in the First Division was played in front of a crowd of 27.020 at Coventry, where visiting Aston Villa had goals from Tony Morley and Peter White to defeat the home team 2-1 and pull even with Ipswich atop the standings. Ipswich fought to a 00 draw on a sea of mud at Everton, where attendance was 2,516, Ipswich and Aston Villa each have points, with Ipswich possessing a game in hand ~ and a better goal average. Liverpool won 1-0 at Norwich in front of 23,829 fans on a goal by Terry McDermott on a field made muddy by melting snow. Liverpool remained in third place with 36 points. West Brom won 2-0 at heme to Brighton, while Arsenal lost 20 away to Totlenbam Hotspur. That left West Brom, which had goals from Cyrille Regis and Peter Barnes in front of 15,643 fans, in fourth spot with 33 points. Arsenal is fifth with 32 points, Tot- tenham's Steve Archibald. scored both goals to raise his total for the season to 19 — most goals in the First Division this season — as 32,994 home-town fans cheered. Elsewhere, sixth-place Southampton won 34) at Birmingham, Crystal Palace “and hampton played to a storeless draw and Leeds shut out lastplace Leicester i on a goal by Paul Hart. The Stoke-Notts Forest and Sunderland-Manchester United matches were postponed due to poor weather conditions. Both Leleester and Palace appear headed for the Second Division. Southampton’s win ex- tended the team's un- defeated streak in league play to 10 games, a club record. Second - Division-leader West Ham was held toa 1-1 draw by Notts County, and Swansea's 3-1 lass at KINGS, Wolver- ° - Cambridge allowed Notls Caunty to move into ‘a share of second place. West Ham has 39 points and Swansea and Notts County each have 32. All Scottish Premier Division games were’ postponed. LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Tracy Austin won ‘the baseline battle of the teeny- beppers, beating Andrea Jaeger 6-2, 6-2in the final of - a $250,000 tennis tour- nament. In winning the double elimination tournament of the eighl lop players bas¢d on point standings after 39 tournaments in 1980, Austin, 18, won $75,000, HAWKS WIN TWO EACH Kitimat Winter Hawks unveiled new scoring power over the weekend'as they trounced Vanderhoof 124.and 10-0in Pacific North West Hockey League action. The Prince Rupert Kings also padded their scoring statistics when they trounced Smithers 1)-2 and then added a 6-4 victory. The only other game of the weekend saw Burns Lake edge Houston 86. Lietzke in early form PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Bruce Lietke extended a couple of career habits with his front- running, record-setting victory in the Bob Hope Desert Classic golf tour- _Bament, but he’s concerned that another habit might be lurking in his future. Of his six career vic- tories, four have come at this time of the year — early in the season. And, he said, at least half of them have come with him lead- ing all the way, as he did in this five-day event. “It's a popular thing for meé to do, get a good start and live and sleep with the lead all the way,"' Lietzke said Sunday after leading ail the way and closing with a three-under-par 69, "" Lietzke’ shat $35, a diz- zying 25 strokes under par and two better than the previous record in the only S0-hole event on the PGA tour. The win gave him at least one tour triumph in each of the last five years. It was two in front of frustrated Jerry Pate, with a closing 69. Dan Halidorson of Shilo, Man., finished well back in the field with a 352 total on rourmdby-round scores of 73- 69-73-68-69. The only other Canadian in the tournament, Jim Nelford of Burnaby, B.C., missed the cut after the fourth round and had rounds of 72-74-69-71. “This was probably the best week of golf in my life. I'm really glad to get the - year off to a good start. if it should happen again, Lietzke has $50,000 — the winner's share of the’ $304,500 purse. Lietzke, one of the game's longer hitters and golf's most successful cross-handed putter, earned $50,000 — the winner's share of the $34,500 purse. Pate, who has won more than $400,000 without taking a tide in the last two "years, closed to within one stroke at the turn, but Lietzke rolled in a 30-35 foot : birdie putt on the 13th hole tliat, Pate said, “took the breath out of me." It re established a two shot lead and Lietzke brought it ‘home, moving to a three- shot advantage with a birdie on the 16th. Pate birdied the final hole for a 69 and tied the tournament record at 337, 23 under par in the ex- ceptionally low scoring. that was aided and abetted by five days of near-perfect golfing weather. ° “I'm getting tired of saying it, but it's true,’ Pate said. “I played well enough to win but somebody played better," David Edwards birdied the last hole at Bermuda Ixevs for 71 and third. alone at 341. Tied at 342 were J.C. Snead, Bill Ro- rex FOR NEWS HOT OFF THE PRESS ! gers .and D.A, Weibring. Snead had a closing 66 in the warm desert sunshine, Weibring- shat 68 and Rogers matched par 72: Jack Nicklaus had a final Hagler BOSTON (AP) — Marvin Hagler was set to say a kind word about the man who had stood up for seven rounds under his fisted onslaught. There was one . problem — he did not know the man's name. A companion at the post- fight news conference clued him in, But the middleweight boxing champion still butchered the name of Fulgencio Obelmejias moments after butchering the man in the ring. Hagler should have no such trouble with the more familiar names of two spectators at the eighth- round technical knockout Saturday, but handling them in the ring might be more difficult. Sugar Ray Leonard, the World Boxing Council wel- 69 in his first start of the season and finished at 9. Lee Trevino finished at 69- 345. Arnold Palmer, a five time winner here, hit his keeps terweight champion, and Vito Antuofermo, the former middieweigh! king. watched as Hagler won his first tithe defence since taking the crown last September from Alan Min- ter. Leonard looms as a potential opponent if he Moves up to middleweight ranks. Antuofermo, who retained his title on Nov.30, 1979, in a controversial draw with Hagler, is the more immediate concern. Promoter Bob Arum said at the news conference he is aiming for a Hagler. Antuofermo rematch in Boston in late May. Arum also said Hagler might defend his title in March against Korean Chong-Pal Park. "T want to be the people's first shot of the day out of bounds and struggled to a closing 76. He finished at 3461, the only man in the final field over par for the tournament. title champion and | want to be the best middleweight champion of the world,” Hagler said. “I want to be a fighting champion.” Obelmejias, a mystery despite his No.1 ranking, took repeated solid com- binations from the shorter Hagler but went dowa only once and rallied-in the seventh round, But Hagler nailed him with a left-right- left combination that ended the fight 20 seconds into the eighth round. “1 couldn't understand really what kept this man up,” Hagler said of Obelmejias, who had been undefeated in 30 fights, 21 of them in his native Venezuela, "He took a lot of punishment there, but guys have never been the same once I've finished with them.” Get it all . in the Tent e-AETNAT eed daily herald Teall 635-6357