Onny Parun

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Inducted in 1990

It’s not too often that modern sports people admit to answering the call of Queen and country first, but that’s what Onny Parun did in 1975 when he chose to play for New Zealand in a Davis Cup tie instead of playing in a tournament in Holland.

Tennis

Threatened with fines or suspension, Parun put New Zealand first. It made him one of the most loyal of sportsman as well as one of New Zealand’s best-performed tennis players.

Parun was among the world’s top 20 for five years and in 1971 and 1972, he reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

He made the final of the Australian Open in 1973, losing to John Newcombe in four sets, and was a United States Open quarterfinalist in 1973 and also a quarterfinalist at the French Open in 1975. Parun and Australian Dick Crealy won the French Open doubles in 1974.

He also made the Masters final in 1974, qualifying by finishing in the top eight on the grand prix table.

Parun played Davis Cup from 1966 to 1979 and won a string of national titles, including the Benson and Hedges Open three times in four years.

Return to the Inductee list

Sporting Spotlight

Tom Lowry

(1898 - 1976)

Lowry was one of the dominant figures of New Zealand cricket in its formative test years.

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