ByDanny Caro, Danny Caro
Dov Katz, manager of Brighton Pavilion (BBATT) table tennis club, praised his team after they secured promotion to the Premier Division of the British League.
Maccabiah stalwart Katz steered his team to the runners-up spot in Division One south to qualify for the playoffs.
Having drawn the first match 4-4 against Wymondham Grantham, a team packed with international players, BBATT swept aside the other teams Urban Progress (8-0), Halton (7-1), Sportingbet Guernsey (8-0) and Olop Impact (7-1).
The team was led by Eli Baraty who will be competing for Maccabi GB this summer in Vienna, supported by Belgian Kilomo Vitta, Ritchie Venner and Chinese star Da Shuai Zhang.
With promotion secured, Katz played in the final match against Olop Impact and beat Welsh wizard Neil Wright.
Katz said: "It is an incredible achievement to gain promotion to the Premiership. Next season we will be competing against members of the England national team including Paul Drinkhall, Darius Knight and Gavin Evans, players that will be at next summer's Olympics in London.
"We were exceptional in the playoffs. I'm proud of the team and in particular our Maccabi GB open players, Eli Baraty, who was superb all year, and Ashley Stokes, who also played his part this season. Raphael Marom also contributed.
"Next season we will be called BBATT, recognising Eli's involvement.
The European Maccabi Games is the next project on the horizon for MGB manager Katz. He added: "Our focus now returns to the EMG in July where we are sending arguably the strongest GB table tennis squad in history."