Oliel stars at Euro Olympic festival

Israel had just one silver medal to its name ahead of the weekend, but it amassed four more by Saturday night’s closing ceremony, with tennis prodigy Yshai Oliel claiming two.

By ALLON SINAI
Yshai Oliel (left) and Roi Ginat (right) pose for a photo with coach Jan Pochter (center) (photo credit: COURTESY OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OF ISRAEL)
Yshai Oliel (left) and Roi Ginat (right) pose for a photo with coach Jan Pochter (center)
(photo credit: COURTESY OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OF ISRAEL)
The Israel delegation to the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia added four silver medals to its tally in the final two days of competition which ended on Saturday.
Israel had just one silver medal to its name ahead of the weekend, but it amassed four more by Saturday night’s closing ceremony, with tennis prodigy Yshai Oliel claiming two.
Oliel, 15, who was seeded No. 1 in the singles event, began the day with a disappointing 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat in the final to Adrian Andreev (4) of Bulgaria. He returned to the court a few hours later for the doubles final with 14-year-old Roi Ginat, with the two falling 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-3 to Riccardo Perin and Gabriele Bosio of Italy.
Despite the frustrating outcome of Saturday’s finals, Oliel’s success in Tbilisi provided further proof of his massive potential. Late last year, he became just the ninth boy to capture both the 12s and 14s titles at the Junior Orange Bowl International in Florida. The Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship has a rich history of bringing the world’s most promising young tennis players to Coral Gables and is regarded as the unofficial world championships for youth players.
Past champs include Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Jim Courier.
Oliel became the second Israeli to win the Orange Bowl, with Shahar Pe’er claiming the girls’ 14s tournament in 2001.
Earlier Saturday, Raz Hershko won the silver medal in the girls’ +70kg judo competition, losing to Annalisa Calagreti of Italy in the final.
Ariel Atias took a silver medal in the shot put final on Friday, registering a result of 17.67m. Tomer Frankel won Israel’s first medal in Tbilisi last Tuesday, finishing in second place in the 100m butterfly final in a time of 54.57 seconds.