Local fighters win belts

The Malta Kickboxing Association (MKBA), in conjunction with the World Kickboxing Network (WKN), has just hosted a Kickboxing World Cup in St Julian's.

Out of the 13-match competition, local kickboxers won five title belts.

The MKBA initiative was unprecedented as 13 martial artists from all four corners of the globe were here to compete for the various titles at stake.

Among the visitors were kickboxers from Cyprus, Egypt, Holland, Somalia, Ireland, Corsica, Belgium, France, Poland, the UK, Cyprus and the Caribbean.

The five Maltese who finished high on the podium, after winning four title belts in kickboxing and one in boxing, were: Kersten Borg, Steven Cassar, Ruth Tanti and Daniel Zahra, who all train at the Ying Yang Club under Master Noel Mercieca, and Ludwig Muscat, of the Game Boxing Club.

Three of them, Borg, Muscat and Zahra, won their match by a KO.

Keith Mills, Lucienne Desira, Steve Martin, Jonathan Curmi, Charles Buttigieg, Darren Borg, Terence Cilia and Reuben Azzopardi were the other martial artists who took part in the event.

The tournament was also the first in Malta that Oriental/K1 rules were applied. Azzopardi and Cilia competed in events with such rules where fighters were allowed to use knee techniques.

Zahra produced a superb display of kickboxing abilities and kept his opponent under continuous pressure with a mixture of punches and jump-spinning kicks.

Promoter Dimos Melifrondes was impressed with Zahra and offered the Maltese martial artist an opportunity to train and compete at a professional level.

Meanwhile, Maltese martial artists will participate in two competitions where the European title will be at stake next month.

The first will be hosted on a cruise liner in Corsica and the other one will be in Germany.