pleased to have played in front of the largest crowd ever (for the Israeli tour- nament). I am pleased because it has MIKE ROSENBAUM Sports Writer I n one busy week at the Ramat Hasharon Tennis Center in Tel Aviv: Amos Mansdorf be- came the first Israeli to win the Riklis Tennis Classic, Israel's lone Grand Prix tennis tour- nament; 250 American contributors to the Israeli Tennis Centers, in- cluding 25 from the Detroit area, at- tended the tourney; and American star Jimmy Connors, who lost to Mansdorf in the semi-finals, told the contributors he would consider play- ing in a future tournament in the Soviet Union if he could leave the USSR with a refusenik after the tourney. Seymour Brode, president of the Tennis Centers in the United States, was one of the local attendees. The trip was to celebrate the 10th an- niversary of the Ramat Hasharon Center, one of eight Tennis Centers which provide free lessons to all in- terested Israeli children. The trip was free to anyone who had donated at least $10,000 to the Tennis Centers, with a limit of 250 spots, which were filled within one month of the announcement. . The U.S. group arrived in time to see Mansdorf defeat top-seed Connors, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, on October 16. The following day, Mansdorf, who was seeded third, beat second-seed and two-time defending champion Brad Gilbert, an American Jew, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Israelis Gilad Bloom and Shahar Perkiss then won the doubles, 6-2, 7-5 over Wolfgang Popp of West Germany and Huub van Boeckel of Holland. Mansdorf improved his world Seymour Brode with young Israeli players at Ramat Hasharon. Detroit Roots In Israeli Win 25 attend Tennis Centers' anniversary matches in Israel ranking to 23 after the victory. He lost just two sets in five matches dur- ing the six-day event. He and Bloom are both graduates of the Tennis Center program. At a post-match award ceremony, Mansdorf described his feelings after winning before a sellout crowd of 5000. Quoted in the International Ten- given me the opportunity to show the founders of the Israeli Tennis Center the great things that we have done here. Each and every one of you is responsible for not only my success and my win today but for the success that we have achieved together over the past 10 years. I hope you will con- tinue to support us in the future. In appreciation, to the Israeli Tennis Center I donate my prize money today ($17,860)." Later that night, the American group was joined by worldwide con- tributors and Israeli Tennis Center workers at a dinner. Brode described the surprising speech given there by Connors. Connors, he said, "just gave a beautiful speech — that he's been to many, many countries in the world, and he's seen many tennis centers and he's seen many programs and he's never seen anything like we have in Israel . . . and because of that he'd like to donate $10,000," to the Centers. Connors' prize money for the tourna- ment was $4738. Brode continued, "Connors made a remark at the dinner that the Rus- sian government wants him to come over, they want to start a major tour- nament there. Connors said he would agree to play in Russia and he would forego any money, if he could leave with one refusenik. "I thought that was just a wonder- ful thing. Here's a guy that, when he was young, he was almost like (John) McEnroe, the bad boy of tennis. But he has mellowed and Connors has become a real supporter of, not only nis Weekly, Mansdorf said, "I am very Continued on Page 60 ROUND UP Know The Score Today marks the first of our new, weekly sports pages. We will cover a variety of events, athletes, coaches and others involved in athletics throughout the Jewish community. If you or someone you know had a big game this week, scored a hole-in- one, or if you know of an upcoming sporting event, please contact Mike Rosenbaum at the Jewish News, 20300 Civic Center Dr., Suite 240, South- field, Michigan, 48076, or call 354-6060, Monday- Thursday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Our deadline is noon, Monday, for Fri- day's paper. 58 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1987 DobVansky Wins In Argentina Dana Dobransky won the overall title in a six-nation gymnastics meet in Argen- tina last month. Dobransky led the four-girl U.S. squad to the team title. Argentina was second. Dobransky, from Sterling Heights, won a gold medal in the floor exercises and took second in the balance beam and uneven parallel bars com- petitions, giving her the overall gold medal. She was the top-ranked gymnast go- ing into the event, according to her coach, Steve Whitlock. "I was really pleased, we ac- complished a few new things we were working on," said Whitlock, who added, "I was especially pleased with the maturity of her performance." Dobransky, a member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, was scheduled to com- pete in a meet in Florida last weekend. She has no major competitions scheduled until February. She is pointing toward the Olympic Trials next summer. JCC Resumes Holiday Hoops The West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center plays host to a Chanukah basketball tournament Satur- day and Sunday. Games begin at 7 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Each of the six teams of high school-age competitors will play at least three games. Competing are teams from Adat Shalom., Temple Israel, Shaarey Zedek, the Detroit JCC, Ann Arbor JCC, and a group of local JCC members calling themselves the Bronx Bombers. Games will be officiated, and there will be two games going on simultaneously. There is no admission charge. The JCC has held similar Chanukah tournaments in the past, although there was no tourney last year. They hope to make it an annual event. JCC Events Registration is open for the JCC men's five-on-five winter basketball league. League play begins January 13. The playoffs in the men's four-on-four leagues begin next Wednesday. The cham- pionship games for the member's only and non- members leagues will be played at 11 a.m. and noon, respectively, December 20. The championship game in the Kenny Goldman, 8-10 year-old basketball league is December 20 at 1:30 p.m. A second Kenny Goldman ses- sion begins January 17, with instruction and play for 8-10 year-olds and 11-13 year-olds. Metro BBBA Hosts Sectional The Metro Detroit B'nai B'rith Bowling Association (BBBA) will play host to the International B'nai B'rith sectional tournament in March. Local bowlers will par- ticipate March 17, while out- of-town bowlers will take to the lanes March 25. Over 200, five-man teams from the U.S. and Canada are expected, ac- cording to Mark Sperling, ex- ecutive secretary of both the metro Detroit BBBA and the International BBBA. They will bowl at Hartfield, Thunderbird, Drakeshire and Novi Lanes.