The curtain for the Shanghai Ladies Tennis League will be unfurled next Thursday, June 8, when both the First and Second Divisions get under way. The competition will last for a little over two months, with the fixtures being scheduled every Thursday; provided there is no reference by the weather, the whole season's programme is expected to close on August 10.
A fewer number of entries than last year are to compete there being only eleven teams entered this summer compared with the thirteen entrants which contested last season's titles, Of the eleven, five are included in the First Division and the rest are in the Second According to the official announcement made yesterday by Mys. M. Reader Harris, the hon. secretary. the Russian Tennis Club fails io participate in the senior category and the Catholic, Club and Bramtoco in the junior section, Two Country Club Teams The Country Club. title-holders of the senior championship, have raised two teams to compete for honours in the First Division. They stand even with the Cercle Sportif Fran-the French have entered the "Reds" and "Blues" teams as usual The participation of the Swiss Club makes the senior competition a quin-triple fight.
The Associacao das Senhoras Portu-guasas have dropped into the Second Division despite the fact that they possess several players of senior standard. Their difficulty is the inability to field second and third pairs which are up to First Division calibre. The Portuguese. however, manage to muster two teams in the junior loop and will become one of ihe formidable opponents for the Cercle Sportif Francais, last yegr's pennant winners.
Another change in the Second Division is the non-appearance of the Country Club. But the Rowing Club makes an entry to replace them.
Following is the complete list of teams:—
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.