Section 4 Maccabi Premiers L to R: Stella Fischbein, Ashlee Priester, Liam Shapiro, Zoe Magnezi and Shei Isaacs.
The heavy rain last weekend resulted in a lot of tennis for five Maccabi junior tennis teams, that had earned their place in the preliminary finals. Preliminary finals and Grand Finals were played on the same day.
Overall, Maccabi had three Premiership teams, while another two teams finished as runners-up.
Girls Section 4 Premiers (Stella Fischbein, Liam Shapiro, Shei Isaacs, Ashlee Priester and Zoe Magnezi)
Maccabi 4-27 def Ormond 2-16
Stella Fischbein 0-6
Liam Shapiro 6-0
Shei Isaacs 6-0
Ashlee Priester 6-1
Fischbein/Shapiro 3-6
Priester/Magnezi 6-3
The Grand Final started off as a very close affair. The two doubles games were punctuated by long rallies and very close games with the scores locked together after both matches, Maccabi winning one match 6 – 3 and losing the other by the same margin.
Once the singles started, Maccabi showed its strength, as it has all season and won three out of the four singles matches convincingly.
This mirrored our season in which we may not have always dominated the doubles but have been too strong in the singles, our advantage being the depth lower down the order. Player numbers 3 and 4 were barely troubled all season. Most teams have strength at numbers 1 and 2 but drop away markedly at the bottom, whilst we are very even across the board, culminating in finishing on top of the ladder and being crowned Premiers.
- Julian Isaacs, Team Manager
BOYS Section 2 Premiers (Campbell Hymans, Jordan Jaffe, Jeremy Tusia and Riley Brick)
Grand Final Maccabi 3-27 def Mordialloc 3-26
Campbell Hymans 6-3
Jordan Jaffe 6-1
Jeremy Tusia 3-6
Riley Brick 6-3
Hymans/Tusia 3-6
Jaffe/Brick 1-6
BOYS Section 3 Runners-Up (Ron Kotev, Brad Lowe, Ayden Carp and James Thurston)
Grand Final Hurlingham Park 3-32 def Maccabi 3-31
Ron Kotev 2-6
Brad Lowe 3-6
Ayden Carp 6-3
James Thurston 6-7
Kotev/Lowe 7-5
Carp/Thurston 7-5
Section 9 Premiers L to R: Daniel Livnat, Zac Davis, Ben Woolf, AIon Berenstein and Damon Levy
Section 9 Boys Premiers (Zac Davis, Daniel Livnat, Damon Levy, Ben Woolf and Alon Berenstein)
Grand Final Maccabi 3-30 def Dendy Park 3-26
Zac Davis 6-2
Daniel Livnat 4-6
Damon Levy 2-6
Alon Berenstein 6-4
Davis/Livnat 6-1
Levy/Woolf 6-7
Early on, the Section 9 Maccabi boys had every result - win, loss , draw , wash out, and the players were enjoying it all . Sitting second or third for most of the season it was really a matter of enjoyment as undefeated Dendy Park beat all who stood in front of them .
Finishing third , Maccabi beat Beamuris in an elimination final and the team of five for the final all contributed.
With rain in prelim week , we had the challenge of a prelim and a possible grand final on the same day. The boys were determined to deliver a good show and go through Centenary Park, 30 games to 22. Again all players contributing.
Facing Dendy Park, who were undefeated all season, the boys handled the pressure and rose to the occassion . Dominating the early matches and holding on to win 30- games to 26.
A very enjoyable and rewarding season indeed.
- Rohan Woolf, Team Manager
Section 15 runners-up L to R: Harley Kaufman, Kanta Nishimoto, Cody Brits, Yarden Grushka and Idan Elbaz.
Boys Section 15 Runners-Up (Harley Kaufman, Cody Brits, Yarden Grushka, Idan Elbaz and Kanta Nishimoto)
Grand Final Stella Maris 5-34 def Maccabi 1-21
Harley Kaufman 2-6
Cody Brits 5-6
Idan Elbaz 0-6
Yarden Grushka 6-4
Brits/Elbaz 4-6
Grushka/Nishimoto 4-6
After finishing last on the ladder in the first half of 2017, the Maccabi section 15 boys started strongly in the July-December season.
The team maintained 2nd and 3rd position during most of rounds 1-12, but after a difficult match in round 13 and a bye in round 14, slipped to 4th in the ladder, just making the cut to participate in the finals series.
From 4th position the boys managed to claw their way back and made it to the grand finals after winning a match against the 3rd team on the ladder (Elwood park) in the semi-finals (5 sets to 1, and 30 games to 22), before playing well to win against the 2nd ranked team (St Joan of arc) in the preliminary finals (5:1 in sets and 33:21 in games).
The Grand Final was played on Saturday 9th December 2017 at Bentleigh Rec where the boys finished runners-up against Stella Maris, losing 5 sets to 1 and 34 games to 21.
Maccabi lost both doubles matches with 6-4 scorelines - Cody and Idan in one pair and Yarden + Kanta in the pair.
The singles matches were fought hard by Harley, Cody, Idan & Yarden. Yarden won his match 6-4 as the team finished runners-up.
During the entire season the boys displayed great tennis and represented Maccabi honestly and with great sportsmanship.
- Moshik Grushka, Team Manager