#5: ITL Athletes Hit European Championships
Malta hosted the European Cadet Championships for the first time ever. Spectacular news in its own right. But more so - two ITL athletes hit the main stage along with Europe’s finest.
Athletes Alycia ‘Aly’ Cassar and Michela Scerri competed in the -51kg and -37kg female categories in the six-day tournament held at the National Sports School, Pembroke. Together, they were led by Malta National Coach Ditmir Vodinaj, ex-Albanian national champion and ITL coach.
It was none other than Michela who opened the games, after facing Ukraine in the first match on the 24th November.
The game opened with an aggressive confrontation between the two. However, a strong front-leg presence from the Ukrainian national led her to a 14-3 scoreline in the first round. An 11-3 score in the second round meant the end of the match at 2:0 against Malta.
You can catch the entire fight by clicking here (fight 1).
Alycia had another tough nut to crack after drawing Italy in the third match on Sunday 27th November.
Aly finished the first round 2-2, having scored two points with well-placed punches. However, she lost the round due to technical scoring.
The second round kept spectators enthralled, with Aly leading for the most part until Italy’s G. Cutugno caught her with a 3-3 draw. Then, a shot from Cutugno in the dying seconds of the second round resulted in a loss for Malta.
You can catch the fight by clicking here (fight 3).
In competition, Aly and Michela were joined by two fellow nationals - Luke Chircop and Nathan Degorgio; two talented athletes who hail from a different Maltese club. The pair fought in their respective set on the 25th November, but sustained hard-fought losses at 2:0 and 2:1 respectively.
Although the results didn’t go our way, our four athletes’ performance at continental level was nothing short of commendable.
It fills us with joy to see our athletes rise to major occasions. The beginning of several more to follow.
Aly and Michela, alongside ITL athletes Jean Schembri, Robin Zammit and Marija Nikolikj will now travel to Brussels, Belgium to compete in their next international tournament and training camp. Both of which will take place on the 3rd and 4th December 2022.
