#39: 3 New Black Belts At The Iron Taekwondo League
The ITL has welcomed three new black belts after a Malta Taekwondo Association Dan Grading event held on Saturday 21st January 2024.
The examination saw two of the club’s coaches: Ditmir Vodinaj and Ela Trushi claim their second and first dan, respectively. In addition to this, Guinean-born Mamadou Balde also achieved his first dan.
Ditmir Vodinaj, 2 Dan
Ditmir is a six-time Albanian national champion (-74kg), having risen through the ranks of Vllaznia Martial Arts (Shkodër). His consistent performances abroad earned him countless honours, including several ‘best player’ awards in both national and international events.
Aside from a role within the ITL, Ditmir is also the current national coach of Malta. He boasts extensive competition history, particularly in Balkan championships, where Taekwondo is known to be one of the most followed sports.
Ela Trushi, 1 Dan
Ela is a former Albanian taekwondo champion who - like Ditmir - hails from Shkodër, Albania. Her passion lies in the training of young children.
She aims to create the champions of the future. In fact, she became the first athlete to launch a taekwondo class aimed at kids aged 3-6 years old and now runs the project across various schools in Malta.
Mamadou Balde, 1 Dan
Mamadou first walked into our club at age 24 having never practiced taekwondo before. Sometime later, he found himself competing and medaling in national and international tournaments.
He became the first athlete to be included in the THF Refugee Team - an initiative launched by ITL in conjunction with WT.
Just last year, he competed in several tournaments, in countries like Serbia - Sweden, and Belgium. And this year, we have many plans together once again
With the recent additions, the ITL now has eight black belts among its 60 registered members. These are:
Gianluca Barbara (Dan IV)
Mohammed El Amin Merabati (Dan III)
Ditmir Vodinaj (Dan II)
Kimberly Barbara (Dan II)
Ela Trushi (Dan I)
Mamadou Balde (Dan I)
Michela Scerri (Poom II)
Jean Schembri (Poom I)
The Dan Grading, which took place over two sessions on the 21st of January 2024 was overseen by the Grandmaster and 9th Dan Black Belt - Dr Ali Reza Mohammadzadeh.
Dr Reza, also President of the Austrian Taekwondo Federation, is a WT delegate and renowned poomsae expert responsible for overseeing the grading of over 6,000 black belts.
11 Total athletes succeeded in their Dan Grading examination on the day. On that note, the ITL extends its warmest congratulations to all participants.
The club would also like to extend its thanks to the Malta Taekwondo Association, particularly to President Anna Vassallo, Andre Scerri, William Beck and Michelle Chircop, all of whom managed the event on the day.
An honorable mention also goes to Dragon Academy Malta and Birzebbuga Taekwondo Club, who fielded their own participants and coaches on the day.
