Maccabi Table Tennis Club again on top of league

JACK MILNER

The club is affiliated to the Gauteng Central Table Tennis Association and teams participate in the various leagues, from beginner to the advanced level of the Premier League. Many players have started there as juniors and have gone on to represent the province and even South Africa.

Presently the club has in its fold a recent national open men’s champion and veterans champion, as well as players ranked nationally in the top 10, at both senior and junior levels.

A number of years back the club employed Nigerian player Chijioke Osuji as their resident coach and he has had great success with the club. He provides private coaching as well.

Among his pupils are Danica and Aiden Schlome and he accompanied Danica to Pietermaritzburg recently to take part in trials for a single place in the National Under-18 team. She won all but one of her six matches and finished top of the log.

Two of the contenders were National team players and she beat both of them twice. Against the other players she won one decisively and lost her other, also decisively, but Danica did well enough to finish on top of the log.

Now she is awaiting word from the national federation to see if she has made it to the team.

Maccabi Table Tennis is also considering sending a team of juniors to next year’s Maccabi Games.

The club staged a Maccabi Schools Day in October last year and had 40 kids attending. “We will be holding trials during the next two months,” said Mark Schlome, “but costs have become a challenge.

“Look, it has always been a challenge to raise the money, but at the current rand-dollar exchange rate, this time it is going to be a massive challenge. The cost is estimated to be around R90 000, or even more. 

The Maccabi Club is based at Linksfield Primary School and is always keen to invite new members to join, whether they be juniors, seniors or veterans and whether it is just for social purposes or to play in the league.

Practice sessions are held on Sundays with juniors playing from 16:00 to 18:00 and seniors from 19:00 to 22:00.

Anybody interested in joining can contact Mark Schlome on 082-777-7469 for more details.

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Maccabi SA Futsal focuses on Maccabiah

JACK MILNER

Preparation for next year’s Maccabiah is well under way, with Maccabi SA Futsal having already selected a national under-16 training squad of 26 players from around the country.

Maccabi SA is very excited about this young crop of players who will be representing South Africa at the Games next year.

“The training squad is extremely strong and we are very lucky to have such a talented bunch of players to work with,” said convener Ronen Cohen.

Meanwhile, season two of the WP Maccabi Girls Futsal League kicked off last month in the superb Beck Sports Hall on the Herzlia High School campus and saw the addition of new players, together with their new team kits.

This league has become even more competitive with many of the matches ending in nail-biting finishes.

The idea behind this league is for the girls to showcase their talent for next year’s Maccabiah. There are currently four teams in the league, with WP Maccabi having 15 girls participating in two teams.

The final round of trials will take place on Sunday March 20 and Monday, March 21.

The Maccabi SA Under-16 (born 2001, 2002, 2003) Boys Futsal team trials will be played on both days, from 0:900 to 12:00 at the Herzlia High School Sports Hall.

Trials for the Maccabi SA Girls Futsal team will take place on Sunday, March 20 from 12:30 to 14:00, also at the Herzlia High School Sports Hall.

* For more information contact Ronen – futsal@maccabi.co.za