#83: In-House Tournament Sees 62 Athletes Show-Off Their Sparring, Poomsae And Breaking Skills

A wonderful showcase of sparring, poomsae and breaking techniques took place on Saturday 29th March, welcoming 62 athletes across three Maltese clubs.

Apart from Iron Taekwondo League, Birzebbuga Taekwondo Club and prospective new club Strive Taekwondo joined the event.

A joint team photo at the conclusion of the in-house games.

The day opened with a demonstration of team poomsae from ITL youngsters, who performed taeguk I, taeguk II and taeguk IV. Following that, the ITL seniors gave performed their own team poomsae - taeguk VIII. This was done by Coaches Jovo Mirkovic, Gianluca Barbara and Czarek Odlanicki, together with James Lee, Alycia Cassar and ITL Poomsae Athlete Aliyah Labay.

Jovo concluded the demonstration with a solo demonstration of Cheongkwon.

The conclusion of the team poomsae demonstration meant the start of the individual poomsae tournament, the only medaling event, and one that had no less than 30 matches. The standings were as follows:

KIDS, GROUP 1 - Novice - Taeguk I ONLY

• 1st: Henry Cachia (ITL/SEC)

• 2nd: Noah Barbara (ITL)

• 3rd: Jack Zarb (ITL)

KIDS, GROUP 2 - Beginners - Taeguk I and II

• 1st: Anika Jovanovic (ITL)

• 2nd: Poppy Ward Bonnici (ITL)

• 3rd: Nina Gellel (ITL)

• 3rd: Dias Micallef (ITL)

The medalists of the KIDS, GROUP 2

KIDS, GROUP 3 - Intermediate - Taeguk I and II

• 1st: Ben Gatt (ITL)

• 2nd: Zane Pullicino (ITL)

KIDS, GROUP 4 - Intermediate - Taeguk III and IV

• 1st: Julian Gallo (ITL)

• 2nd: Jayden Camilleri Grech (ITL)

KIDS, GROUP 5 - Advanced - Taeguk IV and V

• 1st: Dwayne Micallef (ITL)

• 2nd: Oliver Gatt (ITL)

• 3rd: Ella Schembri (ITL)

• 4th: Firayaad Abdela (ITL)

The medalists of the KIDS, GROUP 5

CADET, GROUP 6 - Intermediate - Taeguk III and IV

• 1st: Sinan Koruk (ITL)

• 2nd: Kayl Mifsud (BTC)

• 3rd: Sherzod Bazarov (ITL)

• 4th: Alexandros Litviakov (ITL)

JUNIOR & SENIOR, GROUP 7 - Beginner - Poomsae I

• 1st: Gaby Sant (BTC)

• 2nd: Emma Gellel (ITL)

• 3rd: Anhelina Hladenova (ITL/THF)

• 4th: Solomiia Berezhna (ITL)

JUNIOR & SENIOR, GROUP 6 - Advanced - Taeguk 7 and Taeguk 8

• 1st: Aliyah Labay (ITL)

• 2nd: Gianluca Barbara (ITL)

• 3rd: Dana Desira (BTC)

• 4th: James Lee (ITL)

Judges: Jovo Mirkovic, Czarek Odlanicki

The third event of the day was sparring. Here, kids and beginner cadets played in a no-point sparring with normal hogu for two rounds of 01:00 each.

Advanced kids played afterwards, with headshots allowed.

Advanced cadets, juniors and seniors then played in a team-sparring contest, with nine contestants donning blue protectors, while nine contestants donned red protectors. They each played one round of 01:30 followed by a ten-minute round of golden point.

This was all a showcase with no winner or loser.

Advanced sparring took place in a team format.

Mila, age 3, completing her hammerfist breaking.

The final event of the day was the Breaking Contest, which saw the following members smash wooden boards with a variety of taekwondo techniques:

1. Mila Barbara (hammer fist; breaking of red re-breakable board).

2. Noah Barbara (hammer fist)

3. Dias Micallef (mid-section knife-hand strike)

4. Ella Schembri (side kick)

5. Max Shliakhouski (side kick)

6. Sawyer Domenico (front push kick)

7. Alexandros Litviakov (front kick)

8. Jean Schembri (wall-hop jumping round kick)

9. Gianluca Barbara (jumping triple kick)

10. Czarek Odlanicki Poczobutt (mid-section punch, power breaking with two boards)

11. Sherzhod Bazarov (540-degree hook kick, with landing)

12. Brayden Micallef (jumping front kick)

13. Dwayne Micallef (drop kick)

14. Robin Zammit (spinning hook kick)

15. Matteo Cassar (jumping side kick)

16. Dean Spiteri (hammer fist, power breaking with two boards)

17. Aidan Abela Taylor (side kick)

18. Oliver Gatt (side kick)

19. Eva Mifsud Calleja (side kick)

20. Jovo Mirkovic (spinning round kick)

21. Mauro Busuttil (hammer fist, power breaking with two boards)

The event welcomed Strive Taekwondo Club, the new local club led by coach Mauro Busuttil and Birzebbuga Taekwondo club, Malta’s longest standing club led by coach Neville Desira. ITL was represented by Gianluca, Czarek and Jovo, who also participated in the events.

Coaches Mauro and Neville aided in the management of the event, including club athletes Alycia Cassar, Jean Schembri, Fergeson Galea and Aliyah Labay, who together assisted with coaching, refereeing and other matters. For this, ITL would like to pass-on its sincerest thanks, and here’s to other future events.

Videos of the event can be accessed via YouTube by clicking here. Photos, conversely, by clicking here. This footage was taken with a big thanks to Jean Paul Gatt.