Bnot Hasharon hosts Elitzur Ramle tonight in game one of the best-of-five women's Premier League final series. On Thursday, both teams wrapped up exhausting semifinal series. Ramle defeated Ramat Hasharon in the fifth game of their series, while Bnot Hasharon came back from a 2-0 deficit to eliminate Ramat Chen 3-2. Both teams had relatively light practices over the holiday weekend.
Bnot Hasharon coach Shiki Falah did not know how his players would feel before tonight's game. "The last game was on Thursday," he said. "It's difficult to sense the girls' mood for the next game."
His counterpart at Ramle, Eli Rabi, fears a big letdown. "I told the girls today that there is a feeling that the next game is next week, but it's tomorrow," said Rabi yesterday. "One of my biggest jobs in this series is to make sure the whole establishment understands the difficult task ahead of us. Ramat Hasharon is a big club and we have made a big effort and had a nice achievement. However, with all of that, no one knows what to expect in this series, and the pressure is on us more. Ramle is expecting to take this series."
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As Rabi said, Ramle is considered the favorite, but that is primarily because of its six league championships, as opposed to Bnot Hasharon, which is making just its second appearance in the finals (in 2002, it lost 3-1 to Ramat Hasharon).
However, Bnot Hasharon finished the regular season in first place, and had a winning record against each of the other clubs. "Bnot Hasharon rightfully finished the regular season in first place," said Rabi. "They were the best. They have two advantages over us: home-court advantage and the fact that their team spent the entire season together. Shiki had seven months to build strategies and a style of play. Our advantage is tradition. I believe that under pressure, we will focus better."
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