The Maltese Judo Federation have just organised the 29th Malta Open at the Cottonera Sports Complex.
For the members of the national team, the Open is an ideal occasion to continue with their build-up for overseas competitions as club judokas get the opportunity to take part in an international tournament on home soil.
Gianni Maddaloni, father and coach of Marco (winner of two European Championship titles) and Pino Maddaloni (Olympics gold medallist), was present for the tournament.
The Open featured the parti-cipation of judokas from Malta, Italy, England, Hong Kong, San Marino, Serbia, Russia and Slovakia. The standard was high with Maddaloni, Giovanni Carollo, Juri Contegreco and Antonio Chianese among those taking part.
Jeremy Saywell was the stand-out performer for Malta. Contesting the U-66kgs category, he was pitted against Contegreco in the first bout.
Saywell and Contegreco have met before. In most cases, the Italian had the edge but this time Saywell was out to show his true worth. He took his chances well, throwing Contegreco to win the bout.
The next bout for Saywell was against Chianese. The Napoli judoka threw Saywell before forcing him to surrender the match.
Saywell regrouped though, beating Yeung and Chui, both from Hong Kong, to finish second behind Chianese. Contegreco had to settle for bronze.
Marcon Bezzina, another Malta national team judoka, contested the Under-63kgs and the open O-57kgs. Both categories were contested by British and Maltese athletes.
Bezzina won all her matches with superiority to finish top of the charts in both competitions.
Joanna Camilleri figured in the U-57 class where she came across Briton Julia Scardone.
Camilleri controlled her opponent well and managed to pin Scardone on the mat for 25 seconds to win the first bout. However, she slightly hurt her shoulder and chose not to continue as a precaution.
Isaac Bezzina clinched the silver medal after eliminating a Russian and Serbian in the U-90kgs.
Murman Korchilava contested the U-73kgs but it wasn’t his day. He lost two of the four bouts contested with a Hansoku Make (disqualification) after gripping his opponent below the belt.
An encouraging aspect at this year’s Open was the participation of cadets Cormack Spiteri, Francesco Aufieri, Alessio Muscat and Leslie Anne Portelli.
Others who showed promise included Ann Marie Gatt, Cheryl Cachia and Justine Buttigieg.
Malta placed third in the final classification with two gold medals, five silver and three bronze.
Gruppo Sportivo Carabinieri placed second with three golds, one silver and a bronze and the top team were Ealing Judo Club from England. They had a total of four gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Day Two of the Open saw the participation of more than 55 young members within the fede-ration’s fold. Renowned judoka Paolo Bianchessi, captain of the Italian judo team, winners of the European title, took part.