Rami Hipsh

Ethiopian runner Mugas Tai won the Tiberias Marathon in record time yesterday, shaving six seconds off the previous best and taking home $20,000 in the process.

The investigation into tax evasion by various sports clubs yesterday spilled over into volleyball, as players agent Nozik Rovel was hauled in for questioning.

Hapoel Tel Aviv's latest recruit arrived in Israel on Friday, and was treated to the same shameful reception that has greeted several outstanding sportsmen and women who wish to ply their trade here - he was detained for three hours by immigration officials at Ben-Gurion Airport.

Gal Friedman has become a national hero following his victory in the world championships. Now he's set his sights on the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Israel ended its participation in the European Short Course Swimming Championships with only a solitary bronze medal as the event concluded in Reise, Germany yesterday.

Windsurfer Gal Friedman became the first Israeli to win the gold medal at the World Mistral Sailboard Championships that were held in Thailand yesterday. Friedman finished the final two races yesterday in first and 16th place.

The finals of the national tennis championships should get under way in Ra'anana today, five days late, after weather ruled out any play last Friday.

Harel Levy is hoping to end a lackluster season with a successful finish today as he attempts to win the National Championship crown for a third time.

Amir Hadad, the national tennis champion for the past two years, yesterday annoucned that he would not be defending his title despite registering for the event.

The national tennis championships get under way today in Ra'anana but it will be a very low-key event. While national championships in other sports draw all the top players in the field, in tennis this is not so.

Eight matches in the Toto Cup's fifth round were held yesterday as some of the top division clubs fielded weakened sides against lower division challengers.

Gal Friedman yesterday moved into second place at the European Mistral Sailboard Championships in Austria, after finishing the day's two races in third and second places respectively.

The Israel Tennis Center has invited Pakistani player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi to play an exhibition match at Ramat Hasharon to mark the 25th anniversary of the center.

Israel's Gidi Kliger and Udi Gal failed yesterday to improve on their fourth-place position on the final day of the world 470 yachting championships in Cagliari, Italy. The pair finished yesterday's final and only race in 12th place, therefore remaining just outside the medal positions in the overall ranking.

Show jumper Elad Yaniv and his horse Polarwind are probably Israel's least-known hopes for the Athens Games

Anna Smashnova and Noam Okun yesterday joined Harel Levy, who won on Monday, and advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open, making for one of the most successful starts in any Grand Slam for Israeli tennis.

Former Israeli No. 1 Harel Levy advanced yesterday to the second round of the U.S. Open for the first time in his career by beating the tournament's 30th seed, Andrei Pavel of Romania in five sets.