SAR and China send first team ever to Maccabiah event
Hong Kong and China are sending athletes to the 17th Maccabiah Games in Ramat Gan, Israel for the first time.
Rafael Aharoni, chairman of the Maccabi World Union and chairman of Hong Kong, Macau and China for the 17th Maccabiah Games, said: 'We will send six athletes from Hong Kong and two from China. The Hong Kong team will comprise five male and one female athlete. The athletes are not Chinese but are permanent residents of Hong Kong,' said Aharoni.
About 6,000 Jewish athletes will travel to Ramat Gan and Jerusalem for the biggest festival of Jewish sports, education and culture ever staged. The Games start on Monday and will finish on July 21 with the closing ceremony in Jerusalem.
'It's the first time China and Hong Kong will participate in the games,' said Aharoni. 'We are looking to bring home at least one gold medal because our team includes a past gold medallist, Bernie Pomeranc, who won in tennis four years ago. We have participants in rowing and squash. Adi Haller won a competition a few weeks ago in the dragon boat races and also has a chance of a medal.'
The first games were held in the British mandate of Palestine in 1932 when 390 Jewish athletes from 18 countries participated. The games have since gone from strength to strength, attracting thousands of athletes, with this year's event considered the biggest to date.
'Australia are sending 500 athletes alone. More than 6,000 athletes will be coming from all over the world and we expect around 50,000 supporters,' Aharoni said.
