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2013 is all about the Maccabiah

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It's virtually impossible to follow a year like 2012 on the sporting front, but quite clearly, the main focus in Jewish terms will be the 19th Maccabiah Games in Israel.

A number of my ones to watch in 2013 will be lining up for what is expected to be a star-studded event, kicking-off at Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium in July.

Team GB swimmer Adam Warner has made a big splash in both the short and long-course disciplines and he is relishing his first Maccabiah experience. However, he will his work cut out trying to muscle in on a place on the podium, with American Olympic star Jason Lezak a possible opponent.

Another youngster on an upward curve is track queen Ellie Edwards who will be looking to emulate the achievements of Richard Goodman in 2009. Ellie’s progress was hampered by injuries last year, but she oozes star qualities and is sure to light up the track at Hadar Yosef.

Having finished rock bottom of the five-team cricket competition four years ago, Britain’s Open squad will be looking to impress in a tournament I expect Israel to feature strongly in. Eshkol Solomon will be gunning for the top run-scorer accolade, but I expect to see the likes of Richard Black rise to the occasion. Having made a handful of appearances for the Belgium national team last year, he could be a dark horse in terms of the Player of the Tournament.

* The JC MSFL season restarts on Sunday with the clash between 2012 treble winners Hendon United Sports Club A and 2011 double kings Redbridge Jewish Care A the match of the day. Hammers boss David Garbacz has described it as a “must-win game”. The defending champions will be missing injured duo Alex Gilbert and Jacob Gold, but Garbacz is confident they will have enough.

He said: “We finished 2012 off well and to be honest the break came at the wrong time because we were really getting it together in our last couple of games so I’m hoping we can carry that form into Sunday’s game.

"Redbridge have been a real bogey team for us over the last couple of seasons – they are always hard to break down and are excellent at taking chances in what is traditionally a tight fixture.

"There are few better teams who can hold on to a lead than Redbridge, but if we were to get in front it could completely ruin their game-plan."

* MSFL chairman David Wolff has warned clubs that the dreaded double-header scenario could come into play if the bad weather persists. Teams should prepare for the worst.

Email dcaro@thejc.com and/or follow Danny on Twitter: @djcaro

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