Jewish sport this week from Victoria, NSW, and ACT
WEIGHTLIFTING (Canberra)
Bloom raises the bar
LAYLA Bloom – the current Maccabi Victoria Junior Sportswoman of the Year – was the youngest of nine competitors from four states in the women’s 71kg bodyweight division at last weekend’s 2022 Australian Weightlifting Federation Senior National Championships in Canberra.
The 17-year-old, who represented Australia at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Israel, and won the women’s 64kg bodyweight division at the 2022 Australian Junior and U23 nationals, moved up a bodyweight division in Canberra, and set a new PB lift in the snatch of 72kg.
She fell just 2kg short of beating her clean and jerk PB of 94kg, and equalled her best combined total PB of 166kg.
Overall, Bloom – representing Victoria – came eighth in the competition, which was won by 22-year-old NSW athlete Jacqueline Nichele.
CRICKET
Terrific ton of matches for twins
WHILE afternoon rain last Sunday cut their round 8 Mercantile Cricket Assocation men’s matches short three-quarters of the way through, the day’s play started on a memorable note for Maccabi-AJAX Cricket Club, with a milestone achieved by these terrific twins.
Levi and Mendi Rosenbaum both reached their 100th matches for the club in the Sunday A grade fixture versus the CUCC Kings, and celebrated with a few drinks in the pavilion at Dingley Reserve. L’chaim to them both!
NETBALL (Melbourne)
Maccabi solid in semis
IN a great result for Maccabi-AJAX Netball Club, five of its U13 to U17 teams made this season’s final four, and played in semi-finals last Saturday.
Of those, their U15 Jaguars team advanced to this Saturday morning’s grand final at Duncan Mackinnon, after posting a big 20-9 semi-final win.
Having played consistently well all season, the Jaguars went into the game with confidence, and established an early lead that they never relinquished.
Top performers for them on the day were Lara Dodge and Abi Kausman who both dominated the mid-court, and Zadie Bock with her accurate shooting.
While Maccabi’s four other semi-finalists lost, the margins were very close, and the results could have gone either way.
The U13 Wolves were defeated 6-8 by the competition leaders, and their most outstanding players were in the game were Maddy Smith and Ronni Harari.
The U13 Panthers lost 9-12, and played well as a team, with Sunny Kister – in her first season of competition netball – named player of the match.
Scores were level in the U15 Dragons’ semi until the final minutes, when they were pipped by 12-14.
And the U17 Titans were outlasted 15-18 in their semi, but they can be proud of reaching the final four, considering the injury-plagued regular season they endured.
They were in the hunt for much of their semi-final, with shooter Tyla Fibishenko in great touch, and Willow Dahan’s impressive passing game and bursting runs though the middle.
TRIATHLON (Melbourne)
Great try in Melbourne tri
THERE were some good performances by Jewish athletes in the 2022 Melbourne 70.3 Triathlon on November 13.
Among them were Deborah Friedlander (5:30.30) who came eighth in the women’s 45-49 category, while David Kaplan (5:36.48) and Gary Samowitz (5:46.16) came 68th and 79th respectively in the men’s 40-44 category.
Yisroel Rosenbaum clocked a fast time of 5:19.56 to place 78th in the men’s 25-29 category, and Zvi Azimov (5:54.23) came 96th in the men’s 35-39 category.
BASKETBALL (Sydney)
Lemish leaves on top
MACCABI NSW men’s basketball stalwart Jonathan Lemish potentially played his last match for the club last Monday night, finishing on a high note with a big contribution of 19 points, including four three-pointers.
Lemish, who will relocate to Melbourne in January, enjoyed being part of a dominant 101-53 win by the Maccabi Kings in the last round of the regular season in division 1.
Top-scorer for the Kings was Richie Cohen (31 points), followed by Brad Nissen (23 points).
Also in division 1, the Maccabi Rockets pushed perennial finalists Native Born all the way in their match, falling 57-60 in a thriller.
Both Maccabi division 1 teams bowed out of the term 4 season, with the Kings placed fifth with five wins and five losses, and the Rockets ninth of 11 teams, with three wins and seven losses.
In the men’s Premier League, the Maccabi Lakers lost 53-73 to the undefeated Cheetahs.
The Lakers struggled to find consistency this season due to numerous absences and injuries, finishing ninth out of 10, but they will look to bounce right back in the term 1 competition early next year.
Meanwhile, in good news for the junior Maccabi club, seven of its players have been picked for Sydney Comets rep teams for 2023.
They are Aimee Danieli (U12 Lynx), Julius Griffiths (U12 Bullets), Joe Zorzano (U14 Warriors), Cooper Rosen (U14 Warriors), Archie Feuerman (U14 Spurs), Josh Kopp (U14 Spurs), and Hayden Rosen (U16 Rockets).
LAWN BOWLS (Sydney)
Success in pairs
MAZAL tov to Maccabi members Barbara Shotland and Brandon Conway, for winning the 2022 Double Bay mixed pairs tournament last week, after defeating Alan and Rene Saidman in the final.
Congratulations also go to Maccabi’s Harold Jankelowitz and Michael Fischl, who won their Double Bay men’s pairs semi-final, to book their spot in the upcoming final versus Rob and Matt Featherston.
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