Bezzina,Saywell win bout at Paris worlds

Over 900 judokas from 140 countries recently assembled in Paris for the largest ever World Champion-ships hosted by the international federation.

Malta was represented by the same judokas who figured prominently in this year’s GSSE in Liechtenstein – Brent Law (60kgs), Jeremy Saywell (66kgs), Johanna Camilleri (52kgs) and Marcon Bezzina (63kgs).

The team did well overall, winning 33 per cent of their bouts, a higher proportion than that of some more quoted federations taking part in the tournament.

In a statement, the Malta Judo Federation said the commendable results would not have been achieved without the dedication and support of coaches Alex Bezzina and Lamberto Raffi.

Bezzina shrugged off the elbow injury that hampered her progress in Liechtenstein in June as she toppled Turkmenistan’s Mariya Lohova in the first round.

The Maltese judoka was also doing well in her next match against Asian Games bronze medallist Zarina Aldikova, of Kazakhstan. However, a moment of distraction cost Bezzina dearly as Aldikova won with an Ippon 90 seconds before the bout was over.

Bezzina, who recently qualified as a judo coach following a three-year course at Bath University, is now ranked 86th out of 166 judokas in the 63kgs category, having gained 40 points for her exploits in the worlds.

In Paris, GSSE silver medallist Saywell was drawn against Lithuania veteran Albert Techov. Far from being overwhelmed, Saywell launched a series of attacks but the experience of his opponent showed in how he fended off the challenge. At the end, however, Saywell surprised Techov with a Yuko to secure the first-round bout.

Saywell is now ranked 110th out of 276 in the world even though he can still take part in junior competitions.

Meanwhile, Bezzina was joined by Camilleri in attending the Alfa Course Masters of the European Judo Union at the Tor Vergata University in Rome.

This course, which culminates in the graduation next June, specialises on Judo for Children, Sport for All and High Performance.