#64: Silver For Scerri In Serbia, Now Qualified For Grand Prix Finals
ITL’s Michela Scerri made history again with her second placed finish at the E3 qualifier for the ETU Grand Prix, meaning that she has now qualified for the Junior Grand Prix finals.
Michela Scerri
Michela attended the competition just one week after her world championship debut in Korea. This time, she fought in Nis, Serbia; a place where she has medaled on separate occasions.
She drew Bosnian Hena Melez in the quarter final and won her fight over two rounds. It was a tight encounter, but Michela won in style, having scored a last second spinning shot in round one, and a last-second head shot in round two.
She then met Croatian athlete Sara Prpic in the semi-final and won over three rounds. The Croat was the first seed of the category.
She then sailed to the final, meeting Greek Ioanna Tsitaki on the other end of the court. It was a tough encounter for the Maltese, having relinquished the lead early on. Tsitaki followed with careful defensive play over both rounds, having clinched the result in the end.
Michela medaled. This time, with a silver medal at this prestigious event. This result means that the young ITL athlete has successfully achieved the quota for the Grand Prix finals to be held at the end of the year. A first for any Maltese taekwondo athlete.
The stupendous result comes off the back of a very tough year. 10 competitions and four training camps attended this year alone. And if that’s not enough, try an estimated 350 official hours of training behind ITL’s doors (and its still October). That’s not counting the unofficial training hours with coaches and other teammates, the dieting, the sacrifices and the many other obstacles along the way.
We would like to continue working towards achieving the next goal; a good result at the GP finals, in which the team will be making its debut. And on behalf of all at ITL, we would like to congratulate Michela and thank everyone who made this result possible.
We would also like to extend a big thanks to Serbian coach Vladan Nikodijevic, who sat in Michela’s corner on competition day in place of coaches Gianluca and Ditmir.
