Three Wolverines Taste Gold at Maccabiah Games
7/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
JERUSALEM, Israel -- Three University of Michigan men's tennis players -- juniors Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School), and incoming freshman Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) -- earned gold medals in their respective divisions at the 17th Maccabiah Games, held July 11-21 at the Jerusalem Tennis Center.
Heller and Peretz teamed together to claim the doubles championship in the Open division, while Mazlin captured titles in both singles and doubles in the Junior division.
Heller and Peretz dominated fellow Americans Joel Berman and Scott Paltrowitz 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals on Tuesday (July 19). The Wolverine tandem secured the gold medal with a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 decision over USA's Jason Pinsky and Phillip Charm on Wednesday (July 20).
Mazlin put together back-to-back victories in two championship matches on Sunday (July 17). After defeating Israeli Ravid Hezi 7-6(4), 7-5 in the singles final, Mazlin returned to the court an hour and a half later with teammate Simon Miller and knocked off Hezi and Daniel Jacobi 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-0 in the doubles championship.
The Maccabiah Games, considered one of the top international sporting events in the world, feature the best Jewish athletes of all ages and backgrounds participating in an Olympic-style competition in Israel every four years.
The first Maccabiah Games, featuring 14 countries and 390 athletes, was held in 1932. World events forced the delay of the third Maccabiah Games, scheduled for 1938, until 1950. The Maccabiah Games have been a quadrennial event since 1957.
A projected 600-700 athletes from the United States compete in approximately 27 different events during the two weeks. U.S. participation is broken down into four categories: Open, Juniors, Youth and Masters.
Maccabi USA
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
