US team wins gold with 9-0 victory over Canada; Israel vs Brazil, Russia vs Argentina in Futsal semifinals Sunday.
By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFFTHE MACCABIAH FUTSAL 370(photo credit: Courtesy)
The USA’s baseball team claimed the gold medal as expected on Friday with a 9-0 victory over Canada in the final. The USA dominated the tournament once more and never looked in danger of missing out on the gold.In Futsal, Israel will meet Brazil and Russia will play Argentina in the semifinals on Sunday. Israel defeated France 6-0 on Friday, while Brasil beat Australia 4-3 in a thrilling match. Russia beat Germany 8-1, with Argentina eliminating Great Britain with a 5-0 win.In the Masters 35+ football tournament, Argentina had the upper hand against Team GB, triumphing 3-0, while Israel beat Chile 5-0 and Brazil defeated the USA 4-0.In Masters basketball, Israel was eliminated after losing to Russia 54- 49 in the semis. The USA will meet the Russians in the final after beating Canada 80-75. In the Open tournament, Israel impressed with a 110-75 win over Canada and will meet Brad Greenberg’s Team USA in the last four on Sunday, while Argentina will face France.In handball, after winning two Olympic titles with the French national team, legendary coach Claude Onesta added another gold medal to his resume, helping lead France to a 30-26 victory over Brazil in the handball Open finals. In the Juniors, Israel A beat France 34-25 and took the gold.In the rowing, Danny Friedman and Oleg Gonorovski took the gold in the doubles. In the women’s doubles contest, Sigal Markowitz and Michaela Streisfield from the USA won the gold. In the singles, Friedman won another gold medal after beating his doubles partner Gonorovski.“The Maccabiah required an extra effort from me in order to compete in both the singles and doubles contests,” Gonorovski said. “My next goal is to compete in my first World Championships in South Korea in August.”In the women’s singles final, Nurit Bazedski surprised Shay Sieger from the USA.“In the women’s team contests, we have no chance against the Americans, but in the singles, it’s a different story,” Bazedski said. “I’m happy I recovered from my previous losses and won the gold. I’m glad the sport is getting the media attention it deserves.”In the Maccabiah’s triathlon, Adrian Young from Australia won the men’s Olympic heat. Fanny Bierson from Israel won the women’s contest.
Amit Fine, who finished second in the triathlon, won the Maccabi- Man title (26km cycling, halfmarathon and triathlon) in 3:52.48 hours, ahead of Gabriel Wasserman (USA) and Craig Feiger from Australia.Heather Shenkman from the USA won the Maccabi-Woman title in 5:35.19 hours, finishing ahead of Keren Sirota (Israel) and Alexandra Davidova from Norway.
