Israel’s medal hopes buoyed on water even as judoka’s run for gold sinks

Israel found success on the water Tuesday, even as its great young hope on the mat was eliminated from the competition.

Windsurfer Lee Korzits ended the day in second place in the 8-day long women’s RS-X event, after winning the first heat and coming in third in the second race.

On the men’s side, Shahar Tzuberi ended the day in 10th place, coming in 12th place in the first race and 8th place in the second.

The two are considered among Israel’s biggest medal hopes.

Tzuberi, who won a bronze medal at the Beijing Games in ’08, finished his first race in 12th place. The windsurfer came in eighth in the second race of the day, placing him 10th in the rankings after the first day of competition.

Israel’s fortunes on land continued to falter on Tuesday, however.

Judoka Alice Schlesinger was eliminated from the Olympic Games Tuesday afternoon, after losing two consecutive matches.

Schlesinger lost to French judoka Gevrise Emane, the reigning world champion, on accumulated penalties after battling her to sudden death overtime.

Earlier, Schlesinger lost to Slovenian Urska Zolnir in the quarterfinals. Schlesinger finished her second Olympic appearance in seventh place.

Zolnir forced Schlesinger to tap out in the last minute of the match.

Earlier on Tuesday Schlesinger beat Hilde Drexler of Austria, which placed her among the top eight judokas in the under 63 kilogram weight category.

Considered by many to be Israel’s top female judoka, Schlesinger placed third in the 2012 European championships. The 24-year-old made her Olympic debut in Beijing, and won medals at both the German and Russian Grand Prix this year.

Elsewhere, Nofar Edelman piloted her Laser Radial sailboat again on Tuesday. She was ranked 33rd overall after three races.

A total of six Israeli athletes were scheduled to compete on Tuesday.