#6: 4-Medal Haul For ITL In Belgium
ITL athletes returned home with two gold and two silver medals wrapped around their necks from one huge competition in Brussels.
The competition - the Brussels Indoor A/B Class - is held in the Belgian Capital every Christmas. And ITL has always registered some solid performances. But this time, the guys have gone and outdone themselves.
The team was made up of Alycia ‘Aly’ Cassar, Michela Scerri, Jean ‘Ninu’ Schembri, Robin Zammit and Marija Nikolikj, and led by coach Gianluca Barbara.
First on the field was Robin, who won his -40kg opening fight 2:1 against a French athlete. The victory sent him straight to semi-final, where he faced a second French athlete.
Robin registered a superb win in the second match, ending the first round with superiority before concluding the second 14-4. The win sent him to the final round.
In the final, Robin faced a third French opponent, and the fight that followed was a truly special one. The young National Sports School athlete lost the first round but levelled quickly with an easy second-round win. It was all to play for in the final round.
The pair exchanged blows till the last second, leaving the score at 7-7 till the last five seconds. An intense exchange in the dying moments of the fight left the score standing at 9-8 against the Maltese fighter. Robin left the field with a silver medal.
Senior athlete Maria was next to play. She faced another French athlete in her semi-final. It was a slow start, with Maria losing-out in the first round after her opponent placed a successful headshot. Maria recovered quickly in the second with one headshot and a punch. The techniques led her to a score of 4-1. The final round proved to be another close encounter, but Maria walked away with a 1-0 win after scoring with one punch.
She faced an Italian athlete in the final, but lost the match after her opponent won the first two rounds. Another silver medal for the team.
Next to play was Ninu, another National Sports School athlete who was left stuck without an opponent in his category. Due to this, he was made to fight out of his group - against a German athlete haling from Trier.
Calmly and coolly, Ninu ended the fight 2:0 to the good, registering another brilliant performance in the name of the team.
Aly drew Belgian athlete Olivia Picci in the next encounter. Picci used her shorter stature to her advantage and played the game from the clinch. This made it difficult for Aly to make use of her longer leg-reach. Regardless, the two fought an intense match as each played to their respective strengths. The game, however, ended 2:0 against the ITL athlete.
The final athlete to play was Michela (-37kg), who registered a strong win (2:0) against a difficult opponent (FRA) in the quarter-final round of the tournament. She proceeded to the semi-final, where she won by walkover after her opponent failed to return to the field of play.
Michela stormed to the final and got the better of her Belgian opponent with an easy score of 2:0 to bring home gold.
The team got some well-deserved rest. But not for too long, for the next day brought with it an intense training session hosted by Mudokwan Pole Brussels.
The session was attended by some notable names in the world of taekwondo, including national team players from Luxembourg and Belgium itself. Internationally ranked -54kg athlete Maharana Toudiani also attended the session, which was conducted by a team of Kukkiwon-trained coaches based in various European countries.
All eyes now remain fixed on the next challenge looming on the horizon - the Malta National Open, to be held on 17th December 2022.
