#70: ITL Athletes Debut At ETU Grand Prix Finals
Malta national and ITL athletes Michela Scerri and Jean Schembri took part in the European Taekwondo Union (E10) Grand Prix Finals, marking Malta’s historic debut in the Junior and Cadet segment of this event.
The event was held in Bucharest, Romania on the 10th till the 14th December 2024.
From left to right: Ditmir Vodinaj, Michela Scerri, Jean Schembri, and Anna Vassallo.
Jean (rank 11), who competed in the cadets male -41 kg. faced Cyprus’ Christos Evripidou in the R16. Unfortunately he lost with a round score of 0:2 despite a hard-fought second round saw him come back hard and almost win.
Evripidou later lost the QF against Omani Dawood Al-Yusufi, who lost his SF against Moldovan athlete Gabriel Derenov. Derenov subsequently lost 2:0 in the final against Serbian Andrija Mihajlovic, who was first-ranked in the set.
Michela (rank 4) won her R16 match against Great Britain’s Darcey Stenzel with a round-score of 2:1. She then faced France’s Manel Kasse-Gruet in the quarter finals, but lost with a round score of 0:2.
Kasse-Gruet later claimed a 2:0 win in the semi-final against first-ranked Ayse Orhan (Turkey) and another 2:1 win against Greek Ioanna Tsitaki in the final.
You can catch all results by clicking here.
The Maltese contingent was lead by national coach Ditmir Vodinaj and MTA President Anna Vassallo, the latter of whom also presented the set winners with their medals.
This was the first time that the European Taekwondo Union (ETU) organized a Grand Prix Final event aimed at juniors and cadets. This innovative competition introduced cash prizes for junior medalists and valuable awards for cadets, setting the stage for these athletes’ senior careers. The event also served as a pilot for the 2025 European Taekwondo Grand Prix series.
On behalf of the association, we congratulate the team for their showing at the prestigious event, which again marks a huge first for the athletes, their club and country.
