Marching for Maccabi medals
Stephen Joseph flies the Union Jack for the 215-strong Maccabi GB delegation at the opening ceremony of this year’s European games in Budapest, which runs until next Tuesday
SPORT Team Maccabi GB have made a promising start in their bid for medals at the 15th European Maccabi Games in Budapest.
Matt Crawcour, Wayne Davidson, David Rawlings and Steven Ginsberg guided the delegation to their first gold medal of the Games as they won the Team squash competition.
They claimed respective 3-0 victories over mixed teams representing Turkey/ Bulgaria, Switzerland/Denmark and USA/Israel to clinch top spot.
There was also success in Open fencing, with Oliver Strange winning bronze in the individual foil event and Richard Bernstein claiming another in the épée.
Goals from Adam Burchell, Adam Bolle, Jack Mattey and Max Kyte earned the Open football team a 4-0 victory over Sweden. Burchell opened the scoring midway through the first half before second-half strikes from Bolle plus substitutes Mattey and Kyte completed the rout.
GB manager Andy Landesberg said: “It’s always important to win your first game in tournament football and we’ll take the clean sheet.
“Sweden were well-organised and tough opponents but we stuck to our game-plan and were pretty solid all round. We knew patience was key and the message was to stay positive and not to get on each others’ backs. It was a good work-out and the great thing is everyone played a part.”
Landesberg believes GB’s strength in depth will help them reach the latter stages of the competition. “Everyone who started on the bench is in great shape,” he said. “There is great confidence across the squad and we know we have boys who can come on and influence the game.”
GB used their full allocation of seven subs, including goalkeeper Reuben Rabstein, who made a couple of fine saves late on. “It’s clear you need your squad of 18 in this heat and all the boys know they will get a chance,” said Landesberg.
He pinpointed Mitch Hahn, Nick Landesberg and Adam Burchell for “sparkling performances” and said Adam Arnold “was excellent in his first-ever Maccabi Games”.
Rachael Myers and Romilly King were the scorers as GB women beat Germany 2-1 in their opening match. GB forged ahead after seven minutes when a shot from Michaela Green hit the post and Myers tucked home the rebound. They doubled the lead midway through the first half when Samantha Miller whipped over a cross, Maxine Hotz flicked it on and the onrushing King headed home. Germany pulled one back 20 minutes from time but GB ran out worthy winners.
Manager Arthur Duke said: “It’s great to win our first match, especially against a German team who thumped us 8-1 at the Maccabiah Games two years ago. We faced an early start in very hot conditions the morning after the Opening Ceremony, from which we didn’t get back from until midnight. The last 20 minutes was backsto-the-wall, but it was a great team performance. We dug deep to get the result and are off to a winning start. I can’t ask for more than that.”
The U16 futsal team made a flying start, with Dylan Phillips, Jay Isaacs (2) and Louis Sampson (2) securing a 5-0 win over Hungary. GB manager Scott Warren said: “It was an incredible performance against the hosts. The boys showed real maturity and composure, and made myself, Jamie Nagioff and coach Tamas Gynei extremely proud.”
The U18 futsal team staged a dratie matic comeback after trailing 1-4 against Hungary after just five minutes. Joey Gold scored four times, with further strikes from Josh Davidson (2), Josh Morris, Brandon Myers and Tony Anthony sealing a 9-7 victory.
Joint-manager Adam Lustigman said: “After a poor start, we saw great spirit and resilience from the boys who did not let their heads drop and we took control once we played our own game. It was very exciting and entertaining, especially for the masses of family, friends and other sports that came to support us.”
Sammy Kingston is confident the U16 football team “will bounce back” after succumbing 1-3 against the Netherlands. Joe Bregman scored for GB. Assistant-manager Kingston said: “It was the first Maccabi football experience for all these boys in our team. Our preparation for these Games has been fantastic but on reflection perNick
nerves got the better of some of the players in the first match. But we know we have five games to go and an opportunity to earn good results to put us in contention for a medal.”
The U18 football team fared better, beating the Netherlands 5-1 with goals from Joe Beare (2), Max Davis (2) and Louis Lazarus.
In the Junior boys’ tennis, Sam Bossen and Joe Randall won their opening two singles matches in straight sets, but there were defeats for Alon Hannuna, Louis Deacon and Charlie Marks.
Zaccharie Sarfati progressed without playing after his opponent withdrew through injury. Ezikiel Kelly started well in the Open Tennis tournament, winning 6-1, 6-3.
Off the pitch, the GB delegation were led into the Opening Ceremony at the Hidegkuti Nandor Stadium on Tuesday night by flagbearers Stephen Joseph, Hollie Geey and Ben Schwartzmann, as well as the British ambassador to Hungary, Iain Lindsay OBE.
“It’s been a fantastic few days so far,” said MGB general team manager Joel Nathan. “The Opening Ceremony was excellent, albeit a little long. All the new athletes experienced something they hadn’t before and all had smiles on their faces.
“I’m delighted many of our teams enjoyed victories in their opening matches, while the others have a chance to recover and push for medals during the second week.”