Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club members from Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys, Šiauliai and Šalčininkai and Israeli exchange students studying in Kaunas participated at the mini-Maccabiah Games competition held Sunday, June 18, at Vytautas Magnus University and the Alexander Pushkin School in Vilnius. All competitors received participation medals and the best athlete in each individual sport received a personalized trophy. Makabi Athletics Club president Semionas Finkelšteinas welcomed athletes to the competition who competed in 6 sports: indoor soccer, 3-on-3 basketball, volley ball, table tennis, chess and badminton (men’s and women’s categories for the latter).
The Panevėžys Makabi team led by A. Šteinas finished first in indoor soccer, followed by Vilnius Makabi led by D. Gunevič and the Vilnius youth team led by A. Perepelica.
In basketball the Kaunas-Israeli joint team with captain E. Ušpicas defeated both Vilnius youth teams for first place.
The Vilnius adult team led by D. Dubrovin defeated the youth from Vilnius led by R. Nikitin and the united Vilnius-Kaunas youth team to take first place in volley ball.
In ping-pong competition seven athletes competed. Ernest Dobrinskij from Šalčininkai won for the second year in a row, followed by Makabi president Semionas Finkelšteinas with Vilnius resident Lazaris Soloveičikas coming in third.
Seven players competed in chess as well, with Daniel Dubrovin of Vilnius taking first prize, second going to Michail Černousov of Vilnius and third to Israeli exchange student Tair Biton. Eighty-one-year-old mini-Maccabiah competitor Jefim Grafman from Panevėžiys was also on his game and surprised spectators.
Genadijus Plavinas organized the badminton tournament well with eight competing. This was preparatory to the 2019 Maccabiah Games to be held later in 2019 in Budapest, Hungary. The future Maccabiah athletes won a clear victory in both the women’s and men’s categories, with Vitalija Movšovič and Daniel Tarachovskij taking first place, respectively. In the women’s Estera Reches from Vilnius and Virginija Savinčė from Panevėžys also won prizes, and in the men’s so did Vilnius residents Dovydas Guja and Aistis Klimavičius. In doubles Reches and Tarachovskij won first, followed by Movšovič and Guja with V. Savinčė and Vilmantas Bočkus from Šiauliai coming up third.
Matvejus Frišmanas, Gercas Žakas, Genadijus Plavinas, Marius Zimanas, Daniel Dubrovin, Elvinas Ušpicas, Aaron Galpern, Robert Nikitin, Olga Bliumenzon and Anastasija Mamčenko helped tremendously in organizing the tournament and refereeing. Competitors sat down to lunch after the competition.
Michailas Duškesas, executive director
