Two young Jewish sportsmen — Max Radiven and Naveh Kraus — have been enjoying success both at home and abroad over the past few months, both winning medals and honours in their respective sports.
Max and Naveh are both being supported by the Maccabi GB Brady Endowment Fund, which provides exceptionally gifted young athletes with the necessary resources to achieve their sporting aspirations and advance their careers.
Table-tennis prodigy Max is coming off the back of three consecutive weeks of competition, which started with the Stiga Blackpool Junior 4 Star Open Table Tennis Championships, where he won both the (U15) Cadet Boys Singles Title and Cadet Boys Team Event.
The prestigious tournament attracts the top-ranked players in the country. Max also managed to reach the semi-final of the Boys U17 event and in playing a total of 30 matches, lost only twice, once in the U19s quarter-finals and the other in the U17s semi-finals.
NAVEH KRAUS
TaeKwon-Do prodigy Naveh Kraus
Reflecting on the tournament, he said: “It was an exhausting event as I played so many matches across three age categories, but I was delighted to win the Cadet double. I would like to say a big thank you to my eBaTT coaches Eli (Baraty) and Jade (Blasse) who inspired me to win.”
Max took part at a Sweden Tour event in Helsingborg a week later, where he put in solid performances, reaching the last 64 of the Boys U18 event, last 32 in the Under 16s and last 16 in the U14 event.
Last week he travelled to Podgorica, Montenegro for a WTT Youth Contender. In the group stages of the U15 Boys Singles, he beat the Irish No1 Peadar Sheridan 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-4) in the last 16, before booking himself a place in the semi-finals by defeating the tournament’s No1 seed, Puerto Rican Steven Moreno, 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 15-13).
Despite bowing out in the last four, he did record his first individual podium on the world stage by securing bronze against the world ranked No15 Cadet.
Reflecting on the last two weeks, Max said: “I played well in Sweden, but in Montenegro, I was on top form and beating the world No15 for my age is my best win ever.” Max will next be in action in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, at the end of this month, followed by a competition in Szombathely, Hungary at the beginning of November.
Up-and-coming TaeKwon-Do star Naveh Kraus took part in a black belt grading seminar in Scotland last month. After three days of workshops, which included theory, Korean, sparring, and patterns, all under the watchful eye of the Grand Masters of TaeKwon-Do in the UK, Naveh has been graded to 2nd Dan black belt.
Earlier this year, Naveh won a bronze medal at the EITF Taekwon-Do Championships in Jesolo, Italy.
With a vast category from all over Europe, sparring against opponents from North Macedonia, Greece, Czech Republic, Lithuania and more, he scored an excellent bronze medal, losing to the gold medallist in the semi-finals by just one point. Naveh won a further two medals at the London Open, winning gold patterns and Bronze in sparring.
