Sport shorts from Australia, Israel and Europe
IRONMAN 70.3
Israel hosts its first Ironman
MORE than 2000 amateur triathletes entered Israel’s first Ironman 70.3 world series event on November 12 in scenic Tiberias.
Israel’s Dan Alterman came first overall in 4 hours, 10 minutes and 30 seconds, showing impressive endurance in the 1.9km swim in the Sea of Galilee, the 90km cycling leg and the 21.1km lakeside run. Australia’s Darrin Blumenthal came 584th in 5:58:45.
Israeli professional triathlete Antonina Reznikov was the first woman to cross the finish line, clocking 4:41:37 to come 21st overall. The top 40 were offered spots at next year’s world championships.
FOOTBALL
Israel bows out
ISRAEL’S men’s football team finished a disappointing third in its pool of six at the completion of its 10-match European World Cup qualifying series.
Denmark topped the group, and Israel needed to win both of its remaining matches last week, and hope second-placed Scotland would lose to Moldova, to also advance to the final round, but neither scenario occurred.
Despite leading Austria twice in their high-stakes match in Vienna last Friday, through goals to Nir Bitton and Dor Peretz, poor defending in the last 30 minutes saw Austria seal a comeback 4-2 victory.
Israel finished on a slightly positive note by beating the Faroe Islands 3-2 on Monday in Netanya.
TENNIS
Shapovalov goes close
ISRAELI-born Canadian Denis Shapovalov ended his 2021 season with an excellent performance at the Stockholm Open.
The powerful left-hander edged fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 7-5 in the semis, before facing rising American Tommy Paul for the first time in the final.
At one set apiece, Paul was able to break Shapovalov’s serve in the eighth game of the deciding set, and then serve out the match to win it 6-4 2-6 6-4.
FOOTBALL
Swibel gets more game time
IN his second pre-season match off the bench for his new club Western Sydney Wanderers, 22-year-old former Sydney FC forward Jordy Swibel had a scoring chance in the 94th minute of an FFA Cup Round of 32 fixture against Broadmeadow Magic in Newcastle on November 10, but his diagonal shot struck the right goal post.
The Wanderers won 3-0, and kick off their A-League campaign this Saturday night at CommBank Stadium when they host Sydney FC.
Fellow Wanderers recruit, Israeli striker Tomer Hemed, is likely to start against the Sky Blues.
TRIATHLON
Great results at Huskisson
FOUR Maccabi NSW Cycle and Tri Club members posted impressive results at the ‘Husky’ triathlon in Jervis Bay earlier this month.
Rain made parts of the course muddy, but Maccabi’s Norman Abel, Malcolm Kofsky, Adam Sulcas, and Daniel Butt, didn’t let that affect them.
Kofsky finished second in the men’s 60-65 division with an overall time of 3:04:08.
Abel came third in the men’s 65-69 category, clocking 2:40:05.
Butt not only competed in a 5km swim event the day before, but recorded a great time of 2:31:40 in the triathlon in the 40-44 age division.
And Sulcas, in his first triathlon in the 45-49 age group, finished in 2:51:10.
Meanwhile, the first Maccabi NSW 2021/22 monthly summer triathlon series race will take place bright and early on December 15 at Heffron Reserve and pool.
To register, visit https://www.maccabicycletri.com/rsvp
FUTSAL
Hakoah rise in round three
HAKOAH bounced back in round three of the short and sharp Sydney spring futsal competition last Saturday with solid performances across the board against the ‘Green Machine’ Mountain Majik club.
The Hakoah youth men’s team saw out a gutsy draw, and the 15 girls’ side also had a draw that was secured in the final few seconds.
Hakoah’s 14 boys’, 16 boys’ and women’s teams all enjoyed wins, while the club’s men’s team had a close loss, as did its 17 girls’ side.
They face Quake in the next round.
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