Two members of the junior national squad recently participated in the Torneo Judo Città di Grano in Italy.

Competing in the -66kgs category, Jeremy Saywell gave a very good account of himself, winning a bronze medal.

The other Maltese judoka, Isaac Bezzina, figured for the first time in the -81kgs, in which he placed fifth. Both athletes were accompanied by Marcon Bezzina.

A few days after competing in Italy, Saywell, who will represent Malta at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August, Isaac Bezzina and Marcon Bezzina travelled to Bremen, Germany where they underwent an intensive training camp.

Around 700 judokas from 28 countries, including Japan, France, United Kingdom and Italy, took part in the training camp, a statement from the Malta Judo Federation (MJF) said.

The Maltese judokas described their training camp in Bremen as one to remember as never before in their career had they shared the mat with so many judokas from different countries.

Meanwhile, the MJF is making its final preparations for the annual Malta International Judo Open, to be held at the St Aloysius College.

Athletes from Italy, Ghana and the United Kingdom have entered this weekend's tournament. Several renowned coaches will also attend the Malta Open, such as Michele Monti and Nicola Ripandelli who have been to Malta several times.

The list of foreign participants includes promising junior judoka Francesca Ripandelli, who will be making her second appearance at the Malta Open, Orazio D'Allura, third at the 2001 World Military Games and first at the European Team Championships that same year, and Salvatore Allegra, third at the 2005 World Military Games and second at last year's Junior European Championships.

Tyron Zerafa, Saywell, Isaac Bezzina, Shawn Farrugia, Artem Pashkov, Marcon Bezzina and Joanna Camilleri are the leading names in the Maltese squad.

The senior competition at St Aloysius on Saturday com-mences at 1 p.m. and the bouts for children, cadet and junior classes will be held on Sunday, starting at 10 a.m.

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