Taekwondo contingent win medals in Toulouse tournament

Ten athletes hailing from Dragon Academy Malta took flight to Toulouse, France to take part in the fifth Taekwondo Open that was held in Villeneuve Sur Lot.

The competition was organised by Lovent Taekwondo Club Villeneuvois & Olympic Dojang Layrac, ran by Fabien Causse and Amar Dif respectively.

The team consisted of the siblings Shania, Kylie and Kendra Magro, Luke Chircop, Samuel Vella, Jerome Vassallo, Chloe Vassallo, Nathan Ellul, Aretina Chamaleli and Oleksandra Slobodian.

Also accompanying the team was Nathan Degiorgio who regretfully could not compete due to a knee injury he sustained a week earlier.

Nicole Bunce had to miss joining the team also due to health issues.

The athletes were accompanied by a number of parents and other members and were exclusively coached by Stephen Formosa and Mauro Busuttil.

This was the first foreign competition since the Covid-19 pandemic and surely all athletes were very excited but at the same time anxious due to lack of participation.

During the past months, coach Mauro Busuttil worked incessantly to make sure that the athletes were in optimal physical condition.

It was a great merited success where the team grabbed two gold, four silver and two bronze medals, placing third place amongst 37 participating clubs.

The star of the day was Aretina Chamaleli for whom it was her second gold medal in a week time after also winning her category back home during the Invitational Games of Malta organised by the Maltese Olympic Committee and the Malta Taekwondo Association.

This was also the case for Luke Chircop and Oleksandra Slobodian who both won silver and bronze respectively.

For Nathan Ellul and Samuel Vella it was their first ever competition abroad and though they did not place they gave a good performance.

The Magro siblings gave an impressive performance with the young Kendra winning gold in her first foreign competition and both Shania and Kylie winning silver.

Jerome Vassallo took bronze after being defeated in the second game.