#33: 10 Medals, Including 5 Golds, For Iron Taekwondo In France

ITL’s participation in France’s Lot et Garonne Challenge Cup yielded a significant haul with five gold, two silver, and three bronze medals.

The tournament was the second of the year for ITL, following the Open de Liege last February. This time, however, the ITL fielded 12 athletes aged six to 12 years. Of which, eight made their international debut.

The 13th athlete, Gianluca Barbara, then competed in the Masters -80 kg category and won his third international gold in a row, doing so without conceding a single shot.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

Kieran Vella (gold) eased through his semi-final, winning both rounds with a ‘point gap’* before meeting teammate Tyas Mifsud Calleja in the final. Kieran then edged past his fellow athlete in an exciting bout that left onlookers enthralled.

Ella Schembri (gold) made a bold statement after winning all three of her fights (QF, SF, and F), cruising past fighters of higher rank with point gaps. With the ‘point gap’ removed in the final, Ella created a margin of over twenty points, winning with some style.

Dwayne Micallef (gold), a European kids champion, blazed through all three of his fights (QF, SF, and F) with considerable margins and placed first in the -24 kg category.

Emma Lautier (gold), a European kids vice-champion, also stormed through the females -26 kg. It is worth mentioning that this category is higher than her usual -23 kg. However, she fought up a class for lack of opponents in her usual group.

Through the change in category, she registered convincing wins in her semi-final and final with a margin of over 12 points.

Gianluca Barbara (gold) secured another gold for the club, winning his fights with great margins. Barbara faced two French opponents, winning his semi-final with scores of 12-0 (R1) and 14-0 (R2) and the final with scores of 4-0 and 25-0 (the point gap was removed in the final).

His gold was his third in a row, following two international competitions: one in Brussels and another, in Liege.

To date, no other Maltese athletes have placed first in three successive international competitions.

Luca Falzon (silver), who started taekwondo only eight months ago, had a debut to remember. He defeated three opponents (R18, QF, SF) before losing out in a final against Malik Beroual, the most experienced athlete in the division.

Tyas Mifsud Calleja (silver), aged only six years, had the unfortunate circumstance of meeting his teammate - Kieran Vella - in the final. Despite this, Tyas became ITL’s youngest medalist, even after losing the final of the -21 kg category.

He displayed a phenomenal fighting spirit. So much so, that he was the only athlete on the team able to register eight scoring punches in a span of one minute.

Eva Mifsud Calleja (bronze) registered an impressive win in her R18 match, having gotten the better of her taller and more experienced French opponent. She bagged another win in the quarter-final against an athlete of higher rank, before losing in a closely-contested semi-final. Her impressive performance meant she was able to walk away with a bronze medal in her first-ever international competition.

Merobika Abdela (bronze) was eliminated in the semi-final of the females +51 kg category with scores of 9-8 and 10-9 over two rounds despite having led for the majority of the game. However, a well-placed body shot from her French opponent landed in the dying seconds of each round, turning the lead against the Maltese.

Dailen Barbara (bronze) fought hard in the boys -45 kg semi-final against his French opponent. Over two rounds, with scores of 2-1 and 1-0, Dailen narrowly missed-out on a win that could have taken him to the

Firayaad Abdela won his R18 match with a considerable margin, over two rounds, before losing in the quarter-final, narrowly missing out on a podium finish. It was a match that could’ve gone either way.

Zach Zammit secured a win by referee decision in his R18 match but was stopped in the QF of his -24 kg after losing his respective bout against his French opponent.

Oliver Gatt took part in another match that could have gone either way. Oliver was eliminated in the quarter-final of his respective set with a small margin. 1-1 and 1-3 throughout two rounds. His international debut, however, served as a crucial experience given his potential.

Of all the team Luca, Tyas, Eva, Merobika, Firayaad, Oliver, Dailen and Zach have now registered their first appearance abroad. And because of their hard work and attitude, they amassed the greatest medal haul ever achieved by the club thus far. 10 total medals.

MTA President Anna Vassallo, who was also present at the event, was featured on local French news station SO Sud-Ouest, and was given an award for her hard work on the international front in Taekwondo.

Anna welcomed the host team - Taekwondo club Villeneuvois (Lovent) - to Malta for a training camp in June 2021, along with the journalists pictured below: Nicholas Dumoulin and Patrice Couturier.

This competition took part only one day after the Bulgarian Open (G1), wherein another ITL athlete - Michela Scerri - emerged as the sole medal winner of the Junior National Team. Fellow club compatriot Alycia Cassar also bagged an impressive win against a Greek opponent but missed out on a medal spot by losing against the number-one seed of the division (Serbia).

On behalf of the whole team, the MTA would like to congratulate all athletes and coaches who took part in this event.