News

A positive weekend for Malta in Table Football when last weekend Charlie Aquilina was crowned World Veteran Champion 2018.  The FISTF World Cup was held in Gibraltar.
The individual competitions were held on Saturday, with over 200 athletes from 18 countries.  In the Open category the Maltese players were Derek Conti, Massimo Cremona, Samuel Bartolo and Joseph Borg Bonaci.  They all passed the group stage.  Massimo Cremona beaten in the last 32 when he lost against Samuel Bartolo (3-0).  Derek Conti was beaten by Joseph Borg Bonaci (3-2) in the last 32 as well.  Samuel Bartolo made it to the last sixteen and was stopped by the Italian Saverio Bari (3-2).  Joseph Borg Bonaci obtained the best result in this category when he made it to the quarter final, but unfortunately was beater by the Belgian player Justin Leroy (2-1).  Matteo Ciccarelli won the title in this category.
Charlie Aquilina, Joseph Mifsud, Mario Camilleri, Jason Pisani and John Zammit represented Malta in the Veteran category.  They all passed the group stage.  Jason Pisani and John Zammit made it till last 32.  Jason Pisani played against the Spanish Luis Lopez and until the extra time they were draw, the game was decided by shots and unfortunately Pisani was beaten (4-3).  John Zammit played against John Field from Gibraltar and lost 4-3.  Joseph Mifsud and Mario Camilleri made it till the last 16.  Joseph Mifsud lost against Patrick Dean from Gibraltar (1-0) and Mario Camilleri lost against the Italian Gianfranco Calonico (1-0).  In this category the title came to Malta, when Charlie Aquilina continued to advance to the final.  Charlie Aquilina won the semi-final against the Italian Gianfranco Calonico (3-2).   The final was a very intensive [...]

Malta – August 27th, 2018

Today was an historical day for the International Judo Federation as its Academy was officially recognized as an Autonomous Higher Education Institute by the NCFHE (National Commission for Further and Higher Education of Malta). Conceived in 2013 under the leadership of IJF President, Mr. Marius Vizer, the IJF Academy has been growing nonstop since its inception. Today more than 2,000 students from more than 100 countries took part in the Level 1 and 2 training courses (Level 3 under preparation).

From left to right: The Chairman of NCFHE, Mr. Godfrey Vella, the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Sport and Voluntary Education Institute from the Ministry of Education of Malta, Mr. Clifton Grima, and the IJF Academy Director, Mr. Envic Galea

The Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Sport and Voluntary Education Institute from the Ministry of Education of Malta, Mr. Clifton Grima, declared: “It is an important step for Malta and generally speaking for the sport. We are proud to work together with such a proactive International federation, associated with the national judo federation, to promote sport and education. We are looking forward to continuing our successful collaboration in the future. “

With this recognition the IJF is the first International Federation to have its Academy internationally certified. Mr. Mohamed Meridja, the IJF Education and Coaching Director said: “Over the past years, the IJF Academy has shown how successful and effective it was. This is part of our development strategy. I want to congratulate all those who participated in that success, and I want to wish good luck to all the future students. “

During the official ceremony, the diploma of recognition was handed over to Mr. Envic Galea, Director of the Academy by Mr. Godfrey Vella [...]

Next Monday 27th August , the Malta Judo Federation, on behalf of the International Judo Federation, is hosting a press conference to celebrate the occasion of the International Judo Federation Academy Foundation qualifying as a Higher Education Institute.

This press conference will be held at at 11.15 at the San George Corinthia Hotel. A draft program is in attachment.

Attending this press conference will be several International Judo Personalities, amongst them six Olympic Medallists, amongst them three Gold, world champions and members of the IJF Executive. The ceremony will be under the patronage of Hon Dr Clifton Grima Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport.

This press conference is being organised during the Olympic Solidarity Regional Coaching Course being organised by the Academy, in collaboration with the Maltese Olympic Committee and the Malta Judo federation, in Malta between the 26th and the 31st of August. Should you be interested in visiting us at the National Dojo during this event, you can email us or call me so I give you further information about the program.

We are enclosing some information on the background on the Academy and the event:

The IJF Academy was established in 2013, to serve as the teaching arm of the International Judo Federation. The IJF Academy teamed up with The University of Physical Education of Budapest and their best lecturers prepared dedicated sport science lectures for Judo. The best Judo Experts on the other hand prepared the “Judo” content. Thus the Academy launched two programmes:

Level 1 Instructor
Level 2 Coach

These courses were delivered in an innovative “blended” system where the theory was studies online during 1 semester and the practical assessment at the state-of-the-art Olympic Centre of Tata in Hungary.

As the Academy evolved, it moved from the University online platform run on “Moodle” [...]

703 athletes from all over the world including Weightlifting Giants Australia, New Zealand, Nauru, Kiribati, Finland, Canada, South Africa  as well as Malta amongst others participated in this years Weightlifting ELEIKO Email International Tournament where Malta’s very own Zammit Stevens finished in 1st place in the 69kg category from a total of 51 athletes in her group.

After finishing in 4th place in this same tournament last year, Zammit Stevens has managed yet again set another great result this year by finishing on top with her 185kg total. Yasmin out lifted the second place finisher, Lovett from New Zealand, by 7 kg and third place finisher, Abouke from Nauru by 10kg. Along with her Commonwealth Games and Mediterranean Games success, there seems to be no stopping this athlete on her way to reach international success.

Other respectable results from this tournament came from Elisia Scicluna who competed in the 90kg category, where she finished in 4th place overall behind 3 athletes from New Zealand from a total of 30 athletes. 12 year old Tenishia Thorton, only weighing in at 41.7kg finished in 8th place in the 48kg category behind senior athletes from Australia, Nauru, Solomon Island, New Zealand and Guam.

A rookie to the weightlifting world, but definitely an up and coming athlete, Roberta Tabone finished in 10th place in the 69kg category with a 164kg total. Tabone, who is usually known for her performance in crossfit competitions, has recently also ventured into the weightlifting world and has showed promise in her performances.

The Cougars Club from Autsralia won the overall Club competition, followed by the Taborio Club from Kiribati and Rocks Clubs from Nauru. The best club result from Malta came from the Alpha Weightlifting Club women [...]

The Malta Judo Federation can proudly say that is has been keeping itself very busy. An international tournament for our upcoming team, a visit and training camp from an international coach who will be joining us this winter, celebration of the Olympic day with games for parents and children, free lessons for 450 children from Government Schools who visited our National Dojo so far, and the latest event: a judo shiai (competition) on the beach.

Even though our national squad keeps up their training regularly, it is quite difficult to hold a tournament in the scorching heat. So, the officials of the federation decided to take the tatami (judo mat) to Mellieha Bay and hold their bi-monthly event there. As the team started laying out the tatami, curious passers by were asking what is happening. More spectators gathered around the small tatami as the officials, including the referees dressed up in fluorescent #BEACTIVE safety vests and the athletes got ready to compete in their Judogi. In between events, the children and youngsters watching were invited to the tatami to try out Judo and were given #BEACTIVE pouches donated by Sportmalta on occasion of the European Week of Sport (EWOS). SPORTMALTA kindly assisted the federation with the event by offering transport for our tatami.

The event generated a lot of interest, as the live videos broadcast from the Malta Judo Federation facebook page reached over 10,000 people. Follow the Malta Judo Federation on its Facebook page  to keep up to date with its next endeavors.

Judo imur sal-baħar

Il-Federazzjoni tal-Judo ta’ Malta tista’ tgħid b’mod kburi li qed iżżomm ruħha busy ħafna. Kompetizzjoni internazzjonali għat-tim li tiela, żjara u kamp ta’ taħriġ minn kowċ internazzjonali li se jingħaqad magħna [...]