Israel medals in rugby; USA, South Africa grab golds

South Africa won the Rugby-7 Juniors tournament by beating Israel 5-0 in the final. Great Britain won the bronze.

By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFF
Team USA celebrating its rugby medal at Maccabiah 370 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Team USA celebrating its rugby medal at Maccabiah 370
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The Maccabiah Games’s first full-slate day of competition was on Sunday, however a few games took place just prior and after to last Thursday’s Opening Ceremony.
The first gold medals of the 19th Maccabiah went to South Africa and USA. South Africa won the Rugby-7 Juniors tournament by beating Israel 5-0 in the final. Great Britain won the bronze.
In the rugby-7 open tournament, Team USA won the gold, Israel won another silver medal, and South Africa took the bronze.
The first individual to win a gold medal was Gary Shamano from the USA, who won the grand-masters golf competition.
He beat Israeli golfers Leslie Ben Ami, who took silver, and Dr. Basil Kaufmann (bronze).
The basketball tournament began on Friday with a few upsets. Canada (with Amar’e Stoudemire in its coaching staff) lost to Greece 61-45.
Marius Matalon led the Greek side with 22 points. Argentina surprised USA, one of the favorites to win gold, with a 86-83 victory, behind a heroic performance by Lucas Saul with 28 points. Andres Berman added 17 for the Argentineans. For the Americans, Alex Rosenberg scored 15, Stu Douglas (who signed with Gilboa/Galil, one of Israel’s top teams) and Will Tashman added 14 each.
Australia beat Guinea-Bissau 89-45, but each point scored by the Guinean side translated into a $10 donation to support the fight against Malaria in western Africa.
This game helped add $450 to the $3,000 that had already been raised.
In the masters 35+, Israel beat Russia 76-75, while in the women’s tournament, USA had the upper hand against Israel, 75-69.
The first day of the baseball juniors tournament was dominated by the USA. The Americans beat both Canada (12-0) and Israel (15-1). The tournament will continue throughout the upcoming week. All games are played in the Baptist Village near Petach Tikva.
In the futsal tournament, Great Britain, led by England international Jon Courant, defeated Spain 7-0. Holland beat South Africa 3-1 while France rallied for a 3-3 draw against Uruguay.
Finally, in the soccer men’s open competition, Argentina defeated Venezuela 6-0. In the Women’s, USA beat Israel 1-0 and Germany beat Holland 6-2.


Related Tags
Maccabiah