Zahavi is off to Maccabi
MACCABI Tel Aviv have agreed terms to sign Israel midfielder Eran Zahavi on a three-and-a-half year deal from Palermo.
Maccabi Sports Director Jordi Cruyff said: “After long negotiations, which required all three parties to be flexible, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Palermo and Eran Zahavi reached an agreement.
“We are delighted to be adding Eran to the team, welcome him to the Maccabi Tel Aviv family with open arms and hope he can help us achieve our goals.”
The addition of Zahavi will boost Maccabi who remain top of Ligat Ha’Al despite losing 1-0 at FC Ashdod.
The Israeli title race has turned into a three-horse race with Maccabi Haifa moving to within five points of top spot following a 3-0 win over Hapoel Ramat Gan Asi. Wiam Amasha, Taleb Tawatha and Shlomi Azulay were the marksmen.
Second-place Hapoel Tel Aviv were edged out 2-0 against Beitar Jerusalem following late strikes from Chen Azriel and Avi Rikan.
JOSH Newman was jumping for joy after winning gold at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.
Newman, who is 14 and from Billericay, teamed up with Harry Newbold-Cozens to win the trampolining AA synchronised event in Sydney.
Competing against the best teenagers in the world, Newman and Newbold-Cozens stormed the field after producing an excellent routine, with Newman impressing against athletes three years older than him.
Having finished 10th in the individual event earlier in the day, Newman teamed up with Newbold-Cozens and wowed the judges with an impressive overall score of 45.400. Their beautifully co-ordinated jumps and neatly handled landing resulted in a gold medal performance, beating the Australia Blue duo Aidan Collins and Dominic Clarke (44.100).
“It feels amazing to have won gold,” said Newman. “We didn’t really expect to win. We thought we would have a go and try our best going into the competition but we never expected that.
“We have competed in the synchro with each other twice now so to do this on our second attempt is fantastic.”
A member at Brentwood Trampolining Club, Newman took up the sport aged 10 and he qualified for the competition as the only boy in GB to hit the Olympic criteria score twice. He has made giant strides in the sport, winning several competitions, including the British National under-13 championships and he has earned a place on the super-elite national squad for the Rio 2016 Olympic programme.
Reflecting on his performance in the individual event, he said: “It didn’t quite go to plan. My first routine went well but I fell off in the final and missed out on a medal, but getting the gold with Harry was a great way to finish the competition on a high.
“Hopefully we have shown what Great Britain can do when it comes to men’s trampolining and hopefully this is just the start.”
Proud father Stuart Newman said: “Josh’s success was totally unexpected. He was selected to gain experience but exceeded expectation. A medal wasn’t even on the radar so this is a real bonus.”
Newman returned from Australia to a hero’s welcome at school and is targeting further success at the World Age Games in November.
As for his ultimate goal, he said: “All I think about is getting to the actual OlympicGamesso this is a great step for me and will give me a feel for what it might be like one day.”