Noam Okun may have put in a stellar performance for Israel in the Davis Cup triumph over Great Britain this past weekend, but he now finds himself out of the ATP's top 300 for the first time since 2001. A drop of 31 places has left the 28-year-old Okun at 301 in the rankings, a far cry from his career best at number 95. And Okun is not alone. Israel's top-ranked player, Dudi Sela, dropped to 176, while Harel Levy fell to 247. Shahar Peer, who played American Amber Lui in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford early this morning, fell one place to 26. Anna Smashnova remained at 63, while Yevgenia Savransky and Tzipi Obziler both dropped two places to 174 and 182, respectively. (Rami Hipsh)
Jeremy Bates resigned yesterday as captain of Britain's Davis Cup following its defeat to Israel over the weekend. Britain lost the Europe/Africa zone tie 3-2 in Eastbourne and will now face a relegation playoff against Ukraine in September. "I have enjoyed my time as Davis Cup captain and it has been a privilege both to do the job and to work with the players," said Bates in a statement issued by the British Lawn Tennis Association. LTA chief executive Roger Draper said: "The result at the weekend was disappointing, although I was delighted with the way in which the players fought and played with passion throughout the tie." (Reuters)
Israel's U-18 basketball team brushed aside its Icelandic counterpart yesterday 86-67 to ensure its position in the top division of the European basketball league. Gal Mekel was Israel's stand-out player, scoring 29 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Omri Caspi added 16 points. Israel's next game, part of the playoff for 9th-12th place, is tomorrow at 7:00 P.M. (Arie Livnat)
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Hakoach Ramat Gan, which was promoted to the Premier League last season, was embarrassed by minor-league opposition in a warm-up game played in Caesarea yesterday. The team was defeated by Ironi Ramat Hasharon 1-0 on an own goal by defender Sabiti Lipnaya. "This was only a practice game," Hakoach head coach Uri Malmillian said. "When the league starts, we'll be ready. We still need another player or two." (Tabib Zalikovitz)
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