Events

With a cadre of middle-aged Jewish male fans, feisty Sharon Fichman is hopeful for her upcoming women’s doubles match

FLUSHING MEADOWS, New York — On the court at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, 22-year-old Canadian Sharon Fichman is a hard-hitting, feisty, grunting right-handed baseliner who packs a lot of punch into her 5 foot, 4 inch (1.63 meters) frame. Her fighting spirit and determination helped the number two seed as she battled through three matches in the US Open qualifying tournament last week.

There, Fichman earned one of the 128 coveted spots in the US Open 2013 Women’s draw, unlike Israeli star Shahar Peer, the number one seed in the “qualies,” who lost her first round match in straight sets to Russian Ksenia Pervak 6-4, 7-6 and did not make the main draw for singles. Peer will play doubles with Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain.

At a career-high rank of 95 in the world, and despite being relatively unknown outside of her native Canada, Fichman attracts a small group of loyal followers. These mostly middle-aged Jewish men from New York city chant courtside, “Go, Sharon!” throughout her matches and appear to know a great deal about the Jewish players and coaches represented at the US Open.

One Fichman fan sees my Times of Israel media credentials, grabs the daily schedule of matches from my hands, and points out all players with a Jewish connection: “Julia Cohen is half Jewish; Camille Giorgi is Jewish; Youzny is maybe a quarter Jewish but his Russian coach is a proud Jew…” Nachas.

Fichman’s own parents are not in the crowd; she matter-of-factly reports in a post-match interview that her nuclear engineer father, Bobby, and computer engineer mother, Julia, have already used up their vacation time.

Fichman was born in Toronto in 1990, where she was also raised, but is currently training in Vancouver with coach Larry Jurovich. Her Romanian-born parents moved to Israel in 1982, then to Canada in 1989. Fichman began playing tennis at age 6.

“I come from a tennis family — my dad played in the nationals in Romania, my mother loved playing tennis recreationally and my older brother, Thomas, plays tennis. We had a club near our house and I was good at tennis right away.”

In 2004, when she was 13, Fichman won the prestigious Orange Bowl juniors title and was the world’s number two player in her age group. The same year she was Canada’s under-18 Indoor and Outdoor National girls champion. By 14 she had won the gold medal for tennis singles at the 17th Maccabiah Games, where she also won a silver in mixed doubles and a bronze in women’s doubles.

“I got really sick when the week of the Maccabiah Games started,” she vividly recalls.

Fichman has been to Israel many times. “I really love Israel — it is an amazing place. I have dual citizenship, and I have lots of family — aunts, uncles, cousins and nephews in Israel.”

She had a very successful 2006 with doubles victories in both the junior Australian and French opens; she reached the quarter finals in singles and the finals in doubles at the junior US Open later that year. In October of 2006, Fichman began beating some of the world’s top ranked players including Hana Sromova (114).

Fichman turned pro in 2007 and managed to defeat the world’s #90, Stephanie Cohen-Aloro. Later, in 2012, Fichman’s competed in Challenger tournaments and her rankings began to climb — from 239 in July to 153 in December.

Most recently, Fichman has achieved some success in her native Canada

Most recently, She has achieved some success in her native Canada. At the Rogers Cup in Toronto earlier this month, Fichman, then ranked 104, reached the second round in singles and made it to the semifinals for doubles.

With a career win/lost record of 234 and 148, she has earned $85,383 so far this year, with a career net of $338,643.

Following Fichman’s three wins in the US Open qualifiers, she faced Romanian Sorana Cirstea, ranked 22 in the world and the tournament’s 19th seed.

Asked in a post-match interview about facing another player of Romanian descent in the first round, she playfully said, “I’ve known Sorana since we were 11 years old. We’ve played so many times. We met at age 13 or 14 in the finals at the Orange Bowl — it’s not weird at all. We grew up together and we’re friends.”

Cirstea defeated Fichman 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.

“I had a lot of opportunities but I didn’t connect on the break points. I felt I played pretty well for the most part.”

Fichman is intensely focused on her tennis career, which often requires 35 to 40 weeks of travel per year.

“It’s hard to find another passion when I am in one,” she said, but speaks of her love for cooking and baking, the outdoors (walks, hiking and fishing) and of possible future professional interests including business, finance, real estate, and interior design.

But for now, it’s back to tennis. Despite her loss in the singles, Fichman and fellow Canadian Aleksandra Wosniack are in the main draw for  the US Open women’s doubles, where Fichman is currently ranked 89 in the world. (Fichman and Wosniack were scheduled to face wildcards Allie Kiick and Sachia Vickery, both of the United States, on Wednesday, but the match was postponed due to rain.)

Fichman is optimistic. “This is the best I’ve done as a pro — the best is yet to come!”

(Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com)


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FLUSHING, New York – A handful of Israeli players fought for the chance to qualify for the prestigious U.S Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, which began plan on August 26 and will wrap up on Sept. 9. The U.S. Open is the world’s highest attending sporting event, with more than 700,000 fans expected to attend.

Dudi Sela, ranked 76 in the world and a member of Israel’s Davis Cup team, automatically qualified for the main draw of the tournament. In the week leading up to the Open, Sela participated in an Israel Tennis Center clinic in Manhattan, playfully rallyng with New York Junior Tennis League tennis students, as well as with nine-year-old Israeli hopeful Neria Yona. Sela arrived a week early to the Open to practice with his coach and other main draw players, and to watch countryman Amir Weintraub’s third round qualifying match. Sela won two Challenger tournaments this summer and has acclimated to his new Wilson Blade tennis racket; he switched rackets several months ago and reports, “I had a tough time getting adjusted to my new racket.”

On opening day, Sela took on Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia in a nail-biting match. Sela was down 4-1 in the first set, but battled back to take it 7-6. He then won the second set 6-3, but lost next two sets 6-7 and 5-7. With the men tied at two sets each – and with his countrymen and Open doubles players Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich in the stands – Sela won the fifth set 6-4 for the match. Exhausted, he fell to the ground, then stood up and proceeded to pose with every single fan seeking a photo and/or an autograph.

Julia Glushko won her first round match .

Julia Glushko, who played in last year’s U.S. Open and is currently ranked 128, battled her way through three matches in the qualifiers to earn a spot on the main draw.  She won her first match on August 27 against 20th seed Nadia Petrova of Russia. While Glushko needed three qualifying round wins to make the main draw, coach Liran Kling, in an interview with the Ledger following her first round qualifiers match, noted proudly, “Now, people expect Julia to qualify [for the main draw of major tournaments]; it is not like last year when she was a surprise.”

Weintraub, ranked 188 and also a member of the Davis Cup team, spent three weeks in New England this summer playing for the Boston Lobsters World Team Tennis team. He won two matches in the qualifying tournament, which took place the week before the Open, but in the third round match, a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Argentinean Maximo Gonzalez prevented him from making the main draw.

Shahar Peer, ranked 79 and coming off her first tournament win in four years with a victory over 19-year-old Saisai Zheng of China at the Caoxijiu Suzhou Ladies Open, was the number one seed in the qualifiers. Peer, whose up and down career has taken her as high as number 11 in the world, suffered a disappointing 6-4, 7-6 defeat in the first round of the qualifiers to Russian Ksenia Pervak.

Also getting ready for their first-round matches, as the Ledger went to press, were doubles partners Ram and Erlich, as well as Shahar Peer, who was scheduled to play womens doubles. One Israeli junior, Or Ram-Harel, may attempt to qualify for the juniors main draw.

Once again this year, kosher tennis fans will be able to feast at the open, thanks to New Jersey resident Jonathan Katz, owner and operator of Kosher Sports, and his staff, who will be operating a cart outside of court 12.

The Kosher Grill cart at the US Open is a popular food stop for fans.

“This is our tenth U.S. Open,” Katz told the Ledger. Among the items diners will find on his cart: chipotle chicken wrap, crispy chicken wrap, Italian sausage with peppers and onions, sliced steak sandwich, knishes, franks, and overstuffed pastrami sandwiches. All meats are Glatt kosher and all breads are Pas Yisrael; the cart is under supervision of the Star-K and will be open each day of the Open, except Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah.

Katz was not particularly concerned about loss of business due to the Jewish holidays.  “We’ve had Rosh Hashanah fall during the US Open before. He says, “The main factor affecting sales is the weather!”  The cart closes at 4 pm on Fridays.  Katz concludes, “We are looking forward to another successful US Open!”

(Source: http://www.jewishledger.com)

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Parade part of day-long festivities celebrating Israel-US ties

NEW YORK — More than a million New Yorkers came out Sunday to show support for Israel by attending the city’s annual Celebrate Israel Parade. Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the route of the parade along Fifth Avenue, drowning the street in a sea of blue and white.

The parade was one in a series of New York-area events — which actually started Saturday night, with the Empire State Building lit up in blue and white.

At 8 a.m. Sunday morning, thousands of runners set out on a sold-out Celebrate Israel 4-mile (6.4-km) run in Manhattan’s Central Park. According to the Celebrate Israel website, “The four-mile run is a symbolic journey through Israel, from Eilat to Tel Aviv.” Israeli runners were treated to a performance at the Central Park Bandshell by Israeli-born recording artist, performer, educator and music therapist, Dafna.

The Celebrate Israel Parade, started in 1964 and formerly known as the Salute to Israel Parade, featured school groups and other Jewish organizations from the tri-state area, floats, and marching bands.

“I’ve been marching for 31 years with Ramaz. Exciting, community building, great experience for faculty and students to share their love and commitment to Medinat Yisrael. We get a chance to demonstrate our connection to our spiritual and sovereign home,” said Ira Miller, dean of Ramaz Upper School on East 78th Street in Manhattan.

Marchers made their way up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, from 57th Street to 74th Street. The colorful marchers carried illustrations, collages, paintings, and other art forms that reflected the 2013 parade theme, “Picture Israel: The Art & the Craft.” According to the parade website, the art work was designed “to show the diversity of Israel and its people, the land/sea/cityscapes, accomplishments, etc.”

Security along the parade route was tight, with bomb-sniffing dogs on the ground and police helicopters above.

Among the Israeli participants at the parade were Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan, Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon and MK Dov Lipman.

“I have been to New York many times, but this was my first time representing Israel as a member of Knesset in this important parade,” said American-born Lipman of the Yesh Atid party.

Lipman thanked the US and the city of New York for its friendship towards, and support of, the Jewish state.

The day’s festivities were set to end in a friendly soccer match between the Israeli and Honduran national teams.

Meanwhile, several thousand people attended a Closer to Israel march in central London Sunday afternoon, the UK’s first Israel parade in five years.

The event culminated in a celebratory gathering in Trafalgar Square, which was addressed by Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks and Israel’s Ambassador to the UK Daniel Taub, as well as Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove, who declared he was “proud to be a friend of Israel and proud to be a Zionist.”

Entertainment was provided by Israeli pop star and former Eurovision finalist, Harel Skaat.

The community at the event raised funds for Help for Heroes, a military charity that has been in the news since soldier Lee Rigby was murdered last month by Islamic fundamentalists in London, while wearing a Help for Heroes t-shirt.

(Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com)

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Jewish state’s elite squad is relaxed, ready and eager for Sunday’s exhibition game against Honduras

NEW JERSEY — The Israel national soccer team touched down at Newark Airport at 5:30 Thursday morning. By 9 a.m., the freshly showered guys were lounging on the white leather sofas of their New Jersey hotel — calling girlfriends, Skyping mothers, and playfully bantering with teammates, some of whom they hadn’t seen since their impressive 2-0 March 26 World Cup qualifier victory over Northern Ireland in Belfast.

The team came to New York for an exhibition game against Honduras Sunday at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets baseball team. The game — the national team’s first here for 35 years — is the final event of “Celebrate Israel NY” which also includes a Celebrate Israel Run in Central Park and the Celebrate Israel Parade.

While willing to give exclusive-on-arrival interviews to The Times of Israel, most players — many in the United States for the first time — were admittedly more interested in the van, soon to arrive to take them to a nearby shopping mall. Three of the adventuresome players hired a driver to take them straight to Manhattan. Thursday was a free day. A late-afternoon practice was set for Friday at New Jersey’s Montclair State University.

Israeli soccer players (facing camera) Elad Gabai, Dekel Keinan, and Shimon Abuhatzira (photo credit: Howard Blas/Times of Israel staff)

Midfielder Sheran Yeini was excited to be in New York, “one of the best cities in the world.” The Maccabi Tel Aviv player said, “I can’t wait to see the stadium — I know it is a baseball stadium!” It takes 48 hours to convert Queens’ Citi Field for soccer.

Yeini and teammate Elyaniv Barda, a forward originally from Beersheba, and a sixth-year member of the Belgian Racing Genk soccer club, take turns rattling off positive comments about the game and the national team: “We want to represent Israel. We need you! Come to the game and show your support!”

Both made reference to the Celebrate Israel Parade on June 2, on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

“Two or three players will be on a float at the parade — then they will rush to the game,” Yeini said.

Defender Dekel Keinan of Haifa felt both the game and his time in the States “will be an adventure.” Fellow defender, Rami Gershon, originally from Rishon Letzion, was similarly enthusiastic in describing his first trip to the US. “We are looking forward to all of our supporters coming out to the game. We hope families will come.”

“Kol Yisrael Achim,” he then shouted. “All Jews are brothers!”

Gershon, who has played soccer for a Belgium team in Antwerp and currently plays for Scottish Premier League champions, Celtic, reported that he has never experienced anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment overseas. “People are supportive and helpful.”

Midfielder Maor Melikson of Yavneh, a player on France’s Valenciennes club, said much the same. “There is no anti-Semitism — the other way around. People bring Israeli flags to the game.” Melikson was in the States six months ago with his wife, who is not accompanying him on this trip. He will travel to Las Vegas for four days following Sunday’s game. “I am looking forward to all the Jews coming out to cheer for us!”

Israeli midfielder Maor Melikson (photo credit: Howard Blas/Times of Israel staff)

Eli Guttman, coach of Israel’s National team (who with players Tel Ben Haim and Rami Gershon gave an online interview May 29, as part of “Hangout on Air with Israel’s National Team”) was not hanging out in the lobby with his players. He was reportedly resting. Guttman was no doubt pleased that Pierre Mevy Azaria, CEO of MCI Sport, the event organizer, promoter and chief logistical officer, had recently “rescued” Guttman’s hotel suite, which had been “reassigned” to another hotel guest.

In the online interview, Guttman acknowledged that Sunday’s game “is an important game for us — every game for the National Team is important.” But he conceded that it has greater significance for Honduras. “On [June 7] Honduras plays against Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup Qualification. For them, they must be on a high level. We, after the game, will be on our vacation.” Still, he said of the game, “We are serious, and we want to be proud.”

According to Mevy Azaria, more than half of the players will be staying in the States from three days to a week, to relax and travel.

In the days leading up to the game, there is still work to be done. Sharon Eyny, director of GIDNY (getitdoneny), seemed relieved when the players boarded the bus for their shopping excursion. She could get back to selling tickets and coordinating logistics.

In the Jewish and Israeli communities, she and her team have reached out to synagogues, restaurants, venues hosting performances by Israeli musicians and more.

And while unwilling to disclose the number of tickets sold to date, she noted that “The Hondurans are passionate about soccer.”

(Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com)

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