Laws claims Maccabi table tennis crown

The annual tournament hosted 13 events covering all abilities. The first three competitions of the day were the Junior Boys Singles, U12’s and Over 50’s. In the Junior Boys Carl Breindel, the no. 1 Seed, sat out the early stages with a bye but justified his seeding to the final with victories against Sam Krisman and Judah Jackson.

On the other side of the draw no. 2 seed Matthew Gold also made it to the final with victories over Sammy Kaye and Daniel Olsberg respectively. The final was a tense affair with the players and crowd revelling in the excitement as the match played out to a five-set thriller, which Gold claimed 11-9 in the fifth.

Jessica Abrahams lifted the U12 title. She secured wins against Benjamin Busse and Zachy Sagger whilst, in the bottom half of the draw, Jacob Sobel secured straight sets victories over Millie Rogove and Ollie Alexencier. However, he met his match in the final, with Abrahams claiming a 3-0 victory.

England Vets no. 18 Ivan Lewis overcame Micky Lang, Jeremy Banks and Zorik Menashe on his way to victory in the Over-50's final.

Lewis was also victorious in the Over-40 event where Jeremy Banks produced an eye-catching display to beat Dov Katz 3-0 in the semis. Banks took an early lead in the final, but Lewis bounced back to take the title.

The final of the Novices competition was something of a family affair as the father and son team of Martin and Wayne Levy locked horns. The experienced of Martin came to the fore as Wayne was swept aside 3-0.

Judah Jackson won the Cadet title where the biggest shock saw Jamie Rosen knock out top seed Carl Breindel 13-11 in a five-set thriller. But he ran out of steam in the final as Jackson romped home 3-0.

Jo Radivan clinched the Women’s Singles title with a 3-1 victory over Sally Prowen in the final.

Graham Davies showed great stamina to win the Over-60 crown. He edged past David Wirth 11-9 in the fifith set of their semi-final before beating Stuart Sturling 12-10 in the final.

The Banded event saw a battle of generations, with David Lazarus demonstrating the benefit of experience over the youthful Judah Jackson in an exciting final. Maccabiah star Lazarus came through 11-9 in the fourth game.

Lewis then teammed up with Dov Katz to take his third title - the Men's Doubles - and there was double delight for Maccabiah stalwart Katz after he and Sally Prowen went all the way in the Mixed Doubles. This was Katz's fifth success in the men's doubles and Katz's and Prowen's 10th in the mixed.

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ROLL OF HONOUR

Men's Singles (Fred Gerrard Cup)
Adam Laws beat Eli Baraty: 3-1

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Women Singles (Mark Raymond Cup)
Jo Radivan beat Sally Prowen: 3-1

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Men's Doubles
Dov Katz/Ivan Lewis beat Keith Lesser/Daniel Spurling: 3-1

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Mixed Doubles
Dov Katz/Sally Prowen beat Jeremy Banks/Jo Radivan: 3-1

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Under 12s
Jessica Abrahams beat Jacob Sobel 3-0

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Cadet Mixed Singles
Judah Jackson beat Jamie Rosen: 3-0

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Junior Girls Singles
Winner: Jessica Abrahams

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Junior Boys Singles (Yoram Katz Cup)
Matthew Gold beat Carl Breindel: 3-2

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VETERAN SINGLES (Morris Banks Cup)
Ivan Lewis beat Jeremy Banks: 3-1

OVER-50
Ivan Lewis beat Zorik Menashe: 3-0

OVER-60
Graham Davies beat Stuart Spurling: 3-2

BANDED
David Lazarus beat Judah Jackson: 3-2

NOVICES
Martin Levy beat Wayne Levy: 3-0

SPECIAL AWARDS

Milly Superstein Cup for Outstanding Achievement
Ivan Lewis

Yoram and Sylvia Katz Cup for the most promising young junior
Jessica Abrahams