Israel holds its first competition for physically-challenged surfers

ASHDOD, Israel (Reuters) - Israel held its first championship for physically-challenged surfers on Friday in the Mediterranean Sea off the port city of Ashdod, organisers said.

Twenty-one competitors, some of them amputees, paraplegics, deaf or blind, rode the waves assisted by volunteers of the Organisation for Advancement of Surfing and Sea Sports in Ashdod.

Family and friends cheered on from the sandy beach as the competitors, smiling triumphantly, returned to shore.

"It was difficult, almost impossible - but definitely worth the effort. We made history," said Yaron Klein, one of the organizers of the event.

(Reporting by Amir Cohen; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)