The Montreal Racket Club tonight presented the Ken Chantler Award, the most prestigious honour in rackets, to E. Denis Walsh of Boston.

The late Ken Chantler, born in Britain, was for many years the Montreal professional. He embodied all the virtues of his distinguished trade. He was a world-class competitor, a sparkling personality, and a devoted guardian of the traditions of our great game.

The Montreal Racket Club makes the presentation only occasionally to that person who is deemed to have particularly distinguished himself by his "love and spirit of the game."

Denis Walsh was for many years the President of the North American Racquets Association, earning the sobriquet, the "Prince of NARA." He is a member of the Montreal, New York, Detroit, and Boston clubs. He has been for the last thirty years a formidable presence as an administrator, competitor, supporter, and patron of the game of rackets in North America and in England.

The Award consists of a specially commissioned oil-painting portrait of the recipient with a cartouche of him in action on the court. Andrew Parsons, current Montreal Racket Club president, aided by former president Michael McMaster and David McLernon, the great Canadian champion, made the presentation to Denis tonight before a black-tie assembly of over eighty men in the historic, richly paneled, dining room of the Club, which is gilt-encrusted with the names of former champions.

Those honoured in the past have been Michael Huband, Edward Ulmann, and John Prenn.