China Beijing Olympics - Israel's Shahar Tzuberi in top spot

China Olympics - Israel's Shahar Tzuberi in top spot after 1st round windsurfing race

By Haaretz Service

Israel windsurfer Shahar Tzuberi is sitting in first place after his victory in the first men's windsurfing race at the Beijing China Olympics on Monday. The second race is scheduled to take place later on Monday. Making his first ever appearance at the Games, Tzuberi holds a lead over Chinese competitor Aichen Wang.

The road to an Israel medal in China is a long one given that first race won by Tzuberi is one of 20 in total. Ma'ayan Davidovich is also scheduled to race her second round in the women's windsurfing competition. She finished 13th out of a total of 27 competitors in the first round. Her compatriots, Udi Gal and Gideon Kliger also finished 13th in the first round of their sailing contest on Monday, a disappointing result for two men considered to be Israel's premier sailing stars.

In women's China Olympic sailing action, Vered Buskila and Nika Kornitzky finished their first round race in 9th place. The two are hoping not to repeat their performance from the prior Olympic games, when they failed to pose a threat to the top finishers.

Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or, who made history Sunday after advancing to the semifinals of the 200-meter freestyle swimming competition, failed to repeat a similar feat Monday, posting a 1:48.16 finish, good for 15th place overall. In the 100-meter backstroke finals, Guy Barnea finished in last place after posting a time of 54.93 seconds.

Israel shooter Doron Egozi finished in 41st place out of a total of 51 shooters in the 10-meter competition. Egozi, the youngest of the three shooters representing Israel in Beijing, ended the day with 587 out of a possible 600 points. Finland's Henry Hakkinen captured the gold medal, posting 598 points