Jewish table tennis stars shine at the SA Championship

Two brothers and an old table tennis hack were among a number of Jewish table tennis stars who won medals at the South African Table Tennis Championships at the Brixton Sports Hall in Johannesburg from September 21 to 29.

All medalists play at the JusTT table tennis club in Sandringham, Johannesburg, beating players from across the country in various categories.

Veteran Rainer Sztab, who describes himself as an old hack at this game, won gold in the over-60s team event and was awarded bronze as a losing semi-finalist in the over-50s individual category.

The veterans are a tough group, very competitive, says 64-year-old Sztab, who won a silver medal at the Maccabi Games and ran Maccabi table tennis for many years.

Naftali Kavonic, playing in the Under-15 age group, won gold in the team event; silver in under-15 doubles with his brother Levi; and bronze in the under-15 singles. I also played in the Under-19 age group and reached the quarter-finals, says Naftali. I felt like I had accomplished something great. The tournament was a lot of fun for him, he says. I have made many new friends. It's fun to see how people from other cities play.

Levi, playing in the Under-13 age group, won bronze in the team event in addition to his double silver. It felt great! They were the first medals I had ever won, he says, describing the tournament as very exciting.

It also became very intense, says Levi. I enjoyed getting to know the other players.

Amichai Asulin, who won a gold medal, said: Winning was an incredible feeling, knowing that all my hard work and dedication paid off.

Tevia Sapire, who won a gold medal in the team category, played in the men's team, men's doubles, men's mixed doubles and men's singles. I am proud of the team for its strong performance, he says. I didn't play the last team match, but the atmosphere was great and it was a well-fought match.

To qualify for the championships, the Sapires team played at provincial team trials, which were highly contested with many players ranked in the top 10 in the country. I came fourth at the tests, which I was happy with given the competition, he says.

Judit Sassu, who played in the over-40 and over-50 women's categories, capped a remarkable return to the sport by winning a silver and two bronze medals at the championships, where she also coached the under-11 boys.

Sassu won the SA Championships Under-17 women's singles and doubles in 1986, before giving up table tennis that year and only returning to the sport a year ago. I was finally ready to return to the sport, she says. For 24 years I was a junior league coach at Highlands Park Football Club. That took a lot of time, especially coaching two teams.

In the run-up to the championships, Sassu played three to four times a week. I have never been to such a big tournament as these championships. It was great to win two bronze and silver. The tournament was well attended. It was quite an interesting tournament as there were heavy storms in Durban which caused many matches to be postponed.

There was no one I played against at the championships when I was a junior, Sassu says. None of those players are there anymore. But there were many female youth.

However, Sassu plans to play as long as possible.

Sztab, who has around seven veteran national titles to his name, said: “Table tennis is a sport you can participate in no matter how old you are. If you go to the world events they have an over 90 category.

During his table tennis journey, Sapire was part of the gold medal team at the national championship team event a few times. I also played in two African Championships in the South African junior and senior team and won the singles title in college.

He started playing table tennis while playing in the games room with his family on vacation. “I fell in love with the sport and became addicted to improving,” he says.

Sapire hopes to one day win the SA Championships singles title.

Levi says it's nice to have a brother who also plays table tennis because they can practice together and help each other improve. It is useful, says Naftali, because I don't always have to train at our club because we have a table at home and Levi and I can just practice together and train for tournaments.

The Kavonic brothers took up table tennis when they were stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. We always had a table at home and our father bought us very nice bats, so we started playing a lot. We discovered JusTT, which was near our house, so we started taking lessons.

While Naftali aspires to make the South African team and play at the Maccabi Games, Levi's ambition is closer to home. My goal is to beat my brother, he says.