Mike Gardner, a former St. Joseph resident, will defend his championship against Bobby Martin at noon today in the open division finals of the 8th annual Bob Symon Memorial Handball tournament at the YMCA.

Gardner, now of Tucson, breezed past Craig Bays of St. Louis Saturday afternoon, 21-8, 21-7, in a semifinal match.

Martin, a Kansas City player who attends Lake Forest College in Chicago on a handball scholarship, cruised past Alonzo Lewis of St. Louis, 21-8, 21-8 in the other semifinal match.

Top finishers of previous years, including Max Gaither of Topeka, John Bailey of Kansas City and Al Moore of Denver all lost out in their first matches, prompting Jon Symon, honorary director of the tournament and son of the late Bob Symon, to comment of the field's quality.

"This is the toughest field of players of all past tournaments," Symon said.

The field in the contenders' division is now down to four.

Tony Tocco and Tom Egan, both of Kansas City will play in one semifinal match while Kyle Kelly of Kansas City will meet Don Stewart of Denver in the other semifinal. Both matches begin at 9:00 this morning.

The championship match in the contenders' division begins at 1:00 in the afternoon.

All matches are open to the public free of charge.