#84: ITL’s THF Team: What Went Down This Year So Far?
One of ITL’s most coveted projects this year was the launch of its Junior Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) team.
Ashik Sunil Bindhu (left) with a bronze medal at the Wales International Open.
The senior initiative began a little over one year ago with senior athletes Mamadou Balde and Ashik Sunil Bindhu joining the team. They were sponsored thanks to the initiative, eventually traveling abroad to compete and even medal.
With the help of World Taekwondo (WT) and the THF, the club was able to recruit four promising juniors. The four, all hailing from Ukraine are schoolmates in the same secondary school in Malta.
Together, they’ve had an eventful first quarter of the year.
Their training began in January, together with coaches Ditmir Vodinaj (Kyorugi) and Jovo Mirkovic (Poomsae). This holistic approach to taekwondo allowed them a chance to develop an interest in both fields, with aspirations of competing.
Come February, they joined a training seminar together with an Austrian team led by Dr Hossein Zadehmohammed. Dr Hossein brought his team to Malta together with his father, Dr Reza Zadehmohammed, who oversaw the Dan Gradings of the Malta Taekwondo Association during that time. All four players forming part of ITL’s THF wing took part in the joint training between the two clubs.
ITL’s training seminar together with the Austrian team led by Dr Hossein Zadehmohammed.
By March, the THF athletes were treated to a few events, some of which will be etched in their memories for the years to come.
The first event, one that took place on the 10th of March, was one for the record books. Here, the club saw none other than Dr Chungwon Choue, the President of World Taekwondo, visit ITL to see the THF team.
Choue, who is also the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) President met with refugee junior athletes to offer his encouragement and support.
The ITL team, together with the THF contingent, pictured with Dr Chungwon Choue.
Since 2023, Dr. Choue and WT Council Member and Malta Taekwondo Association President Anna Vassallo have signed an agreement to work together in support of refugee athletes.
Speaking with the athletes, Dr Choue highlighted the many pathways and opportunities for athletes in the scheme to compete abroad. Among the athletes was Anhelina Hlachenko, a young female athlete who has aspirations for the podium in the near future.
Dr Choue presented ITL’s THF team, together with the senior team and coaches, a series of gifts, which were very well received by the team.
Another event took place on the 15th of March, during which time, renowned poomsae athlete Jack Durcan, a five-time British national champion, led a training session to help club athletes improve in poomsae.
The ITL Team, together with the THF contingent, pictured with Jack Durcan.
By that point, the team was ready to sit for its first-ever grading. And without any doubt, all three bagged their first yellow-tag belt. Thanks to the THF initiative and the Malta Taekwondo Association (MTA), ITL was able to give them a full kit including their new belts, doboks and club t-shirts.
On the 23rd of March, 2025, the THF athletes took part in their second-ever training exchange with a foreign club, this time from Italy. Bari Bek Doo San, a competitive team from Italy visited Malta for a weekend-long training camp (focussed on Kyorugi) led by coaches Gianluca Barbara and Ditmir Vodinaj. Needless to say, all members of the team were treated to a good few hours of sparring.
As a means to give the THF team more competitive experience, the club hosted an In-House competition that took place on the 29th March, 2025. This competition recruited the involvement of all three local teams.
The beginner category for the individual poomsae at ITL’s in-house tournament.
The THF team took part in this event with one athlete - Anhelina Hladenova - winning a bronze medal in the individual poomsae segment of the tournament.
Future plans
It has been an eventful first quarter of the year for the THF players, who now train hand-in-hand with ITL. So much so, that we are constantly on the lookout for more players to join this ever-growing team.
ITL will now attempt to source competition gear for all players, to further include them in higher-level sparring training both locally and abroad, should the need arise.
Speaking of the sole senior athlete in the ITL/THF umbrella, Ashik Sunil Bindhu is currently preparing for his next competitive adventure: The Greece Open G1 in May.
