During last weekend, the Malta Judo Federation was the host to the Commonwealth Judo Championships. It has been 30 years since Malta hosted these Championships.
The youngest Judoka to step on the tatami were the Pre Cadets, 13- and 14-year-olds, Camilleri Kyle, Mintoff Miguel, Arnaudez Alicia and Arnaudez Isabella. In the -46kgs Miguel won a bronze medal, Kyle placed 4th after beating Hanneman from South Africa. Alicia moved up category as she was uncontested and contested the -48kgs with her sister Isabella, who won her silver medal. The competitive training the boys were undertaking under the leadership of recently appointed National Cadet Coach Francesco Aiello already started yielding results, when the boys threw their opponents with fantastic techniques.
The next session was that of the Cadet Judoka: Magro Marthea, Ibnass Samy and Overend Antonio. Overend won a silver medal in the -66kgs after beating Goldie Logan from Scotland.
The next day, it was the turn of the Junior and Senior Judoka. In the Junior category we saw National Team athlete Khalaf Sadek and the comeback of Spiteri Daniel Lawrence. Khalaf won a bronze medal after he beat Price Evan from Wales.
The climax of the series of the Commonwealth Championships 2024 came with the Seniors session. The Maltese delegation was made up of 9 Judoka, and included elements from its elite squad, athletes who have competed internationally but not on the official circuit, and athletes who competed internationally for the first time in this event. Esposito Katryna topped the podium of the 48kgs, winning her 2 contests. Zahra James was very close to winning his gold, however, in his final match, a simple mistake cost him the contest. He settled for a silver medal in the 60kgs. Khalaf Sadek contested also the senior category, which was contested by 5 judoka. After he beat the strongest of the category, Garvit from India, he was the favourite of the category, however he lost the contest to the Norther Irish Judoka Murray Ewan. Eventually, Garvit, Murray and Khalaf finished with 3 wins each. He had to settle for a bronze medal after the Indian and the Norther Irish Judoka bested him in the number of points and the shortest duration of the contests. Zerafa Thomas John and Muscat Alessio won 1 contest each. Gatt Jonathan, Grech Alec, Saliba Mathea, and Catania Francesca were the other Maltese competitors.
April 6th also coincided with the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. All the participants from the Pre Cadet and Cadet categories, officials and volunteers, and the young Maltese Judoka who had just received their grading certificates, participated in the #whitecard challenge, which is a date that celebrates the power of sport to build a peaceful world. It is a date to mobilise around a common stake: making sport for peace a priority.





