Rami Hipsh

Justine Henin-Hardenne proved too high a hurdle for Anna Pistolesi yesterday, as Israel's No.1 woman went down to the world No. 2 1-6, 6-7.

Anna Pistolesi won her first round match at the $1.3 million Zurich Open against Italy's Silvia Farina Elia 6-2, 7-5 yesterday to set up a clash with second seed and world number two Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Andy Ram and Yonni Erlich continued to entrench their position as one of the world's leading doubles pairs with a win in the final of the 700,000 euros Lyon Grand Prix.

Anna Pistolesi's run at the Kremlin Open came to an end yesterday with a crushing 2-6, 0-6 defeat at the hands of fourth-seeded Russian Anastasia Myskina.

Gocha Ziziashvilly won the gold medal in the 84kg final of the Greco-Roman wrestling World Championships in Creteil, France, yesterday, bringing the sport out of its relative anonymity in Israel.

Gur Steinberg will continue to coach Mistral surfers Lee Korsitz and Gal Friedman until after the Athens Olympics, following the pair's success at the World Championship in Cadiz last week. Korsitz took the gold medal at Cadiz while the outgoing world champion Friedman made do with bronze.

Andy Ram and Yoni Ehrlich have reestablished themselves as two of the top names in doubles tennis, after winning the final of the Thailand Open in Bangkok yesterday. The Israeli duo overcame Andrew Kratzmann of Australia and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), to pick up prize money of $26,800.

Gidi Klieger and Udi Gal will represent Israel in the 470 class at the Athens Olympics after finishing fifth at the World Championship in Cadiz, Spain. They beat out Israel's second pair, Yogev Yossef and Shahaf Amir, who finished 17th.

World Mistral Champion Lee Korsitz returned to Israel yesterday after her triumph at the World Sailing Championship in Cadiz earlier this week. Korsitz and men's bronze medalist Gal Friedman were rushed to a news conference at the offices of the Israel Olympic Committee (IOC).

Lee Korsitz, 19, won the gold medal in the women's Mistral event at the World Sailing Championship in Cadiz, Spain yesterday, making her the first woman athlete to win a world championship for Israel in any sport.

Sydney Olympics triple gold medal winner Keren Leibowitz set a new world record in the 50-meter backstroke at the Israeli Disabled Swimming Championship yesterday.

After the second day of races at the World Sailing Championship in Cadiz, Israel's Lee Korsitz leads the field in the Mistral class with 14 points followed by Barbara Kendall of New Zealand with 8 and Jessica Crisp of Australia.

The World Judo Championship in Osaka, Japan came to an end yesterday with Gal Yekutiel taking ninth place in the under-63 kilogram class.

Michael Kalganov placed ninth to finish last in the 500 meter finals at the World Championship in Gainesville, Georgia yesterday and thus failed to make the cut for next year's Olympic Games.

Yoel Razbozov and Michal Feinblatt made it to within one bout of securing an Olympic spot at the World Championship in Japan, but both failed at the last hurdle. Each finished seventh in his or her respective events, while the Olympic criterion is a fifth-place finish.

Lior Carmi took bronze in the women's 1,000 meters at the World Kayak Championship in Gainesville, Georgia yesterday. Carmi finished in 4.03.104 minutes behind Germany's Katrin Wagner and Katalin Kovacs of Hungary, who won with a time of 4.00.955.

Israeli judoka Arik Ze'evi has crashed out of contention at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan - just as he did two years ago.

Sometimes the performance of one athlete can make up for the rest of his teammates, but at the World Championship in Paris, which ended yesterday, there was no such athlete to be found, at least not from Israel's point of view.

Israeli gymnast Pavel Gofman placed 17th in the finals of the men's all-around competition at the World Gymnastics Championship in Anaheim, California.

A nine-member delegation will represent Israel at the 9th World Athletics Championships in Paris that opens tomorrow. A record 203 countries will participate in the nine-day event.