News Brief

Israeli Shahar Zubari remained in first place in the men’s RS:X sailboarding at the Beijing Olympics. Through four races in of the 20-race series, Zubari led Chan King-yin of Hong Kong after the Israeli windsurfer finished first and third in his races Tuesday. “I like my dark-horse status,” Zubari said. “I am quite young and the other sailors in the class have much more experience than me.” He added, “Right now, I am focused on each race from the start and each leg for itself.” Among other Israelis, the 470 sailing team (two-person dinghy) of Nike Kornecky and Vered Bouskila jumped to fourth overall Tuesday from ninth the day before. The men’s 470 sailing team of Udi Gal and Gideon Kliger moved up one spot to 14th overall following their 13th- and 14th-places finishes in Tuesday’s races. The duo had entered the competition as solid medal contenders. Windsurfer Ma’ayan Davidovich dropped three places to 13th overall after finishing 20th and ninth in Tuesday’s action.

In judo, Alice Schlesinger was eliminated Tuesday from the bronze repechage round in the women’s 63kg class. Schlesinger, 20, lost to Urska Zolnir of Slovakia and finished seventh overall. “She moves a lot and attacks fiercely,” Schlesinger said of Zolnir after the fight. “I was trying to wait because she wants to get your back, so I was trying to stop her. My opponent obviously was much stronger.”