Israel Wins Bronze at World Wheelchair Tennis Championship

The Israeli men's quad wheelchair tennis team secured a bronze medal at the World Championships held in the United States, defeating Chile 2-1 in a dramatic playoff match. The team featured Paralympic gold medalist Noam Gershoni, Paris 2024 medalist Guy Sasson who is ranked third globally, and Roey Aberjel. Sasson and Gershoni clinched the bronze medal after winning the doubles match.

The Israeli quad team's journey to the medal involved a tough singles match where Gershoni lost to Diego Perez, followed by Sasson's victory over Francisco Cayulef, leveling the overall score. The doubles pair of Sasson and Gershoni then secured the win against Perez and Cayulef.

Separately, the Israeli men's open category team, including Adam Baradetzky, Sergey Lisov, and Amiti Argaman, finished ninth overall. They achieved this after a 2-0 loss to the USA and a 2-0 win against Chile. This team is coached by Ofer Sala.

The tournament also marked the 50th anniversary of wheelchair tennis. Kobi Wiener, head of the delegation and a co-founder of the sport in Israel, recalled the sport's origins and its integration into the International Tennis Federation in 2000. Wheelchair tennis arrived in Israel in 2004, with early pioneers like Shraga Weinberg and Boaz Kramer becoming Paralympic medalists by the 2008 Beijing Games.