The athletes are national champions in their categories
In September of this year, Israeli athletes Itay Avivi, 16, Uri Almor, 15, and Elinor Davidov, 15, moved to Vila Nova de Gaia along with their coach, Michael Tauber, 29, to boost international career in table tennis.
The youngsters are national champions in their categories and, in order to continue to grow in the sport, they chose to live in Europe, in an unprecedented decision that counted with the consideration of athletes, parents, coaches and the Israeli Table Tennis Federation. In addition, the three athletes also had the support of their schools, and continue to participate in distance classes.
“Portugal has a very strong national team, the practice center in Oporto is very good with many international players and the Portuguese league is much stronger comparing to the Israeli league”, explains coach Michael Tauber, currently ranked 1st in the Israeli ranking and 2019 Israel national champion. However, for this season, the athletes are playing for the French championship - and not the Portuguese championship. Before each departure they fly to France and then back to Oporto.
"I want to thank to all the coaches and staff in the Israeli national center for the work that we did and still doing together, for the Israeli Federation and the parents for the support and the trust in this project and to wish to the children a very successful year", declared Tauber.
The Jewish Community of Oporto lovingly welcomed this young and promising team that has already celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with the congregation. The young athletes and the friendly coach made a very positive impression and showed how promising their careers will be in the future.
