The Israeli Quad Team goes to the Semi-Finals of the BNP PARIBAS World Championship after a great victory over Japan, who is currently ranked number one in the world. This is the third consecutive victory for the Team since Championship began. On Thursday at 10AM it will face South Africa who defeated 2:1 Canada in the match for second place. Great Britain and Japan will face each other at 10AM. The Finals will begin Friday at 10AM. Entry to the Championship is open freely to the public.
Noam Gershony won the first match 6:0 6:0 Kei Usami in 44 minutes. Patrick Ben Uriel was defeated 3:6 2:6 by Mitsuteru Moroishi, ranked 11th in the world.
The Doubles match was extremely dramatic as Gershony & Weinberg went against Koji Sugeno, ranked 3rd in the world and Shota Kawano, ranked 15th. The Israelis won 6:2, then lost velocity 5:1 in the second round, but with an amazing comeback and massive cheering from the crowd, they scored a draw 5:5, The Japanese Team then went up to 6:5, Israel again reached a draw, and finally won during the tie-breaker 7:3.
Captain Offry Lankri: “We went up with a first-place mindset. The Japanese Team are amazingly powerful, and we gave everything we had to win. For us now begins the true race for the medal”.
Shraga Weinberg (53): “I’m thrilled, we accomplished everything we expected of ourselves. No Team will want to face us now. We’re in good shape, and in winning mindset. I’m really proud of our Team. The Amazing Crowd gave us second wind during the harshest times, for us, that’s the meaning of playing at home, a crowd that cheers you on”.
The Men’s Team of Israel was defeated 0:3 by South Africa in the battle for 3rd place. Guy Sasson was defeated 1:6 2:6 by Alawande Sikhosana. Adam Berdichevski was defeated 4:6 0:6 by Evans Maripa.
In the Doubles Match Berdichevski & Kohanov were defeated 0:6 6:7 by Els & Sikhosana. On Thursday Israel will face Sri-Lanka, for the 13-16 ranking games.
Today’s results in the Men’s Team: France 2:1 Spain. Japan 3:0 Austria. South Korea 2:1 Chine. Brazil 2:1 Sri-Lanka.The USA 2:1 Poland. Great Britain 2:1 Belgium.
Today’s results in the Women’s Team: South Africa 2:1 Russia. Holland 3:0 The USA. Great Britain 3:0 France. Japan 3:0 Thailand.
The Junior Team Semi-Finals are set for tomorrow at 10AM: Great Britain vs. Brazil, and Turkey vs. Australia.
Today’s Junior Team results: Australia 2:1 Argentina. Great Britain 3:0 Colombia. Turkey 2:1 Brazil.