Team MGB Table tennis chairman Leonard Siskind has helped assemble strong group of nationally ranked players to compete in the Junior, Open and Masters categories.
Siskind said: “The only selection headache that I encountered was for the Junior Boys team. The competition was intense as there was a number of hugely talented young men trying to get into the team.
“There are two outstanding players from Manchester in Zak Cantor and Daniel Olsberg, who forced their way into the team due to their performances at the Maccabi GB National Table Tennis Tournament last year and from the trials based in Manchester.
“Not only are they both nationally ranked juniors, they both play in the Premier League in Manchester in the team run by Stuart Landes for Manchester Maccabi.”
Others to watch out for in Israel are London-based Sammy Kaye and Carl Breindel who play in the top divisions of the local leagues and have achieved impressive results this season.
Junior manager Robin Ashleigh commented: “They reached the final of the London trials and have been truly outstanding in recent matches.”
Jessica Abrahams, who won the London trials, and the talented Ariana Di Giammarino complete the Junior squad.
“Our Juniors are destined for great things in the future and will benefit greatly from the experience of playing in such a prestigious international tournament.”
Siskind expressed “excitement” about the prospects of the Open team. “Eli Baraty is a former nationally ranked player,” he commented. “I have known Rafi Marom since he was a young boy and have seen him develop into a tremendous talent, and a fine coach who will be a credit to the team.
“Benny Menashe was a ranked player in Israel when he was a young man and I am delighted to have him as part of our team.”
The Masters will feature MGB Table Tennis chair Jeremy Banks and Martin Schapira. Banks holds a national ranking after “working hard on his game this year”. He will represent GB for the first time together with Schapira. They will prove to be a highly-competitive team.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the sponsors of the team, Mark Adlestone of Beaverbrooks, Nicholas Cowell and Adrian Levy of the Cowell group, Messrs Hazlems Fenton LLP and Paul Eden and Simon De-Friend of Regal Homes. Without their support we would not have been able to send the team and we are all hugely grateful that they have enabled us to go to the games this summer.”
SQUAD:
JUNIOR - Jessica Abrahams, Carl Breindel, Zak Cantor, Arianna Di Giammarino, Sammy Kaye, Daniel Olsberg. Junior Manager - Robin Ashleigh
OPEN - Eli Baraty, Raphael Marom, Benny Menashe
MASTERS - Jeremy Banks, Martin Schapira
Chair - Leonard Siskind
