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Posts Tagged ‘Combat Sports’

By Alex Zammit

Combat sports have always been popular in the Maltese Islands. In the prewar and post war era of the Second World War, boxing was perhaps the most popular, introduced by the British Army in the late 1800’s. In the 1960’s other forms of combat sports started to appear on the local scene such as Judo, Olympic Wrestling and Karate. Most of these sports were practiced in “Culture Clubs” or in Garages on straw mats.

The 1970’s – The big screen introduced the legendary Bruce Lee, staring in, The Big Boss, Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon amongst others. Martial Arts fever griped the world and Malta was no exception. Martial Arts Clubs started to spring up everywhere. Associations for the various fight styles started to be formed and many Maltese started to receive instructions in various combat forms in other countries.

The 1980’s and 1990’s saw the sport of martial arts develop and evolve. The Maltese, Martial Arts scene also evolved keeping pace with other much larger countries.

The nineties and naughties brought with it new innovations to the world of Martial Arts and amongst those who took the plunge in introducing these styles to the Maltese Islands was, Master Noel Mercieca a 4th Dan Black Belt who in 1996 established the  ‘ This club soon established it self as a leader on the local scene and started to amass a number of titles both locally and abroad.

In 2007 – the ‘World Kickboxing Network’ (WKN) one of the largest Martial Arts sanctioning bodies in the world was introduced to the Maltese Islands, through Master Adrian Axsisa, a Spirit Combat expert.

Noel was the first in Malta to join the WKN family. This was a decision that was to reap benefits for his club in the years to come.

Malta’s baptism of fire under the WKN banner came in 2007 in Torino, Italy, when Ruben Azzopardi became the first Maltese to fight in a K – 1 competition (Oriental rules). While Ruben was well prepared physically he obviously lacked the experience necessary to win his first fight under the K-1 rules. However to his merit Ruben only lost on points.

In October of 2007 – Ying Yang’s – Daniel “The Jet” Zahra  became the first Maltese to win a major title when he became WKN EUROPEAN CHAMPION – Kickboxing Rules, Amateur Light Middleweight after beating Adrien Lafaurie (France) in Malta.

Noel Mercieca also set out to further enrich his coaching abilities and since 2007 has attended several advanced technical courses and training seminars for K-1 in Italy, Cyprus, France, United Kingdom and Corsica.

Malta second experience in K-1 was also in Torino, Italy. Malta’s Charles Buhagar, was defeated on points. However the technical improvements were obvious and encouraging.

The Ying Yang, Kick boxers and K-1 fighters, were to suffer a number of defeats before tasting success. In February of 2009 – Ruth Tanti lost on points in France, In 2009 Ruben Azzopardi – became the first Maltese to participate in a pro tournament in Cyprus – he lost to Christo Nikolao on points.

It was in the last quarter of 2009, that the hard work put in by the Ying Yang fighters, training under Noel Mercieca, started to bear fruit – during this period the Maltese club took no less than four major WKN kickboxing titles and one major title under the K-1 rules.

Daniel “The Jet” Zahra – proved himself to be flagship product of the Ying Yang Gym.

(Daniel “The Jet” Zahra) WKN WORLD CHAMPION – Kickboxing Rules, Amateur Middleweight, beating Furleton (Northern Ireland) in Malta, September 2009

(Daniel “The Jet” Zahra) WKN EUROPEAN  CHAMPION –  K1 Rules, Semi-Pro Middleweight, beating Mohamed Jama (Holland) in Malta, February 2009

(Daniel “The Jet” Zahra) Defending Title – Semi-Pro Middleweight, beating Mark Bird (Northern Ireland) in Belfast, April 2010

Other members of the Ying Yang club also enjoyed a good measure of success:

Ruth Tanti – WKN WORLD CHAMPION – Kickboxing Rules, Amateur Featherweight, Nuura Mohamed Sayed Ahmed (Egypt) in Malta, September 2009

Stefan Cassar – WKN WORLD CHAMPION – Kickboxing Rules, Amateur Super Middleweight, beating Kiriakos Konikkos (Cyprus) in Malta, September 2009

Kursten Borg - WKN WORLD CHAMPION – Kickboxing Rules, Junior Amateur Light Heavyweight, beating Ali Hanedar (Belguim) in Malta, September 2009

Terence Cilia – WKN EUROPEAN CHAMPION – K1 Rules, Amateur Middleweight, beating Stuart Jess (Northern Ireland) in Malta, May 2010

Presently the Ying Yang club is home to no less than four national champions in Kickboxing: Ruth Tanti – Lightweight, Kyle Stone – Middleweight, Nicholas Ellul – Cruiserweight and Lucienne Rosso – Superheavyweight

While there are other competent and good clubs in the Maltese Islands, Ying Yang has taken this sport to the next level. The success of this club when considering the size of Malta is astounding.

This year (2011) Daniel Zahra, the WKN World and European Amateur Champion was nominated for the Maltese, ‘Sportsman of the Year Award’ although he was not shortlisted for the final awards, it served as a clear indication of the publics appreciation for the efforts and achievements of this young man and his club.

Club President: Isaac Checuti and club founder Master Noel Mercieca, attribute their success to the daily dedication of their members and the support of a sterling team who work behind the scenes ensuring that Ying Yang retains its position as one of the leading Martial Arts Clubs in Malta.

For more details and information about ‘Ying Yang Kickingclub’ please click this link

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Dominican Republic’s new sensation Dagoberto Aguero shocked the local Chinese spectators after beating top favourite Li Chao in the flyweight semi-final on the third day of competition at the World Combat Games.

The contest finished in the first round after two minutes when the ringside doctor suspended the bout due to Li Chao’s injury. Therefore, despite the 1:1 score the 17-year-old Dominican athlete advanced to the final in Beijing, where he will fight for the gold against South Asian Games silver medalist Muhammad Waseem of Pakistan.

Powerful Aguero became Panamerican Junior Champion and achieved a valuable silver medal at the La Romana Cup in his first elite tournament last year and finished second at the Panamerican Youth Championships in February, but did not qualify for the Youth Olympic Games.

As expected, reigning Olympic Champion and two-time World Champion Zou Shiming also advanced to the final after beating Dominican Republic’s Juan Gabriel Medina by 6:3. In the gold medal match he will face 18-year-old Safoviddin Yusufi of Tajikistan.

After beating top-class athlete Anvar Yunusov of Tajikistan in the quarter-final by accepted scores, local newcomer Zhang Jiawei won another bout against Jordan’s Arabic Games winner Mohamed Abdelaziz Al-Wadi in the semi-final. His next rival will be Joseph Cordina of Wales in the new 56kg weight division.

Two-time Olympian Assylbek Talasbayev of Kyrgyzstan and his younger compatriot Ermek Sakenov also reached the finals after easy victories against their Polish rivals. Lightweight Talasbayev will face Mohamed Ramadan Eliwa of Egypt, while Sakenov’s opponent will be Hu Richabilige of China in the 64kg weight category.

One of the most eagerly anticipated finals will be the welterweight bout, where Chinese top favourite and Beijing Olympian Xinjiang-based Maimati Tusunqiong will be fighting against the strong Vasile Belous of Moldova.

Powerful 26-year-old Vladimir Milevskij of Lithuania hammered his teenage opponent, Tajikistan’s Navruz Jafoyev, in the middleweight class but can expect a harder final contest versus Zhang Jianting of China.

Another Chinese-Lithuanian final fight will be held in the light heavyweight division, where National Games and Benazir Bhutto Tournament winner Meng Fanlong’s rival will be the relatively inexperienced Tadas Tamasauskas.

Asian Games gold medalist and Beijing Olympics quarterfinalist Djakhon Kurbanov of Tajikistan was surprisingly defeated by the experienced Constantin Bejenaru or Romania. It was not the first time in Djakhon Kurbanov’s long career that he has been injured during a fight. Bejenaru’s opponent will be Jordan’s Ahmad Al-Teimat in the final.

Olympic Games silver medalist Zhang Zhilei of China continued his successful series against Chouaib Bouloudinat of Algeria in the super heavyweight class semi-final. The 27-year-old local world-class boxer will face Mihai Nistor of Romania in the gold medal match.

Host nation China has seven boxers in the finals and Romania, Lithuania and Kyrgyzstan two each, while seven other nations have qualified one athlete each for the 1st World Combat Games’ finals.

AIBA Article

Photo: The AIBA

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Assylbek Talasbayev (Photo: Jarkyn Bayzhigitova)

The experienced lightweight fighter returned to the ring this year when he became National Champion in February. Talasbayev’s main target is to qualify for his third Olympic Games in London as first Kyrgyz boxer.

Kant-based Talasbayev won his quarter-final contest against Tariq Zia of Pakistan by 12:8 and will therefore travel back home with at least a bronze medal. In his next bout he will face Polish youngster Tomasz Michelus.

Talasbayev’s new compatriot, 22-year-old welterweight boxer Maksat Alimbayev, was born in Kazakhstan in 1988 but changed his nationality this year because he could not get involved in the Kazakh national team.

Alimbayev reached the semi-final after beating Algeria’s Ilyas Abbadi who competed at the AIBA Youth World Championships in Baku. The Kyrgyz boxer will be a great match against King’s Cup winner Maimati Tusunqiong of China in the semi-final.

The young local boxer is one of the biggest talents in China and he has got a good chance to be included in his country’s squad for the Asian Games. Tusunqiong won against Czech Martin Svoboda in the quarter-final by 12:3 in the welterweight division.

Another Chinese boxer, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Tournament winner Meng Fanlong, won his first contest in Beijing against Romanian Cezar Juratoni in an unexpectedly close bout. The Chinese athlete who took part in the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan will fight against Ahmed El-Hendawi of Egypt for the final.

Panamerican Junior Champion 17-year-old Dagoberto Aguero of the Dominican Republic in his second tournament among elite boxers outpointed Moldova’s newcomer Gheorghe Dascal and will face Chinese National Games winner Li Chao in the semi-final, who defeated Mohammed Bedir of Egypt by 7:0 in the 52kg weight class.

Vasile Belous of Moldova is only 22, but he has been a member of the national elite team since 2006 and therefore had enough experience to beat Jan Romanovskij of Lithuania in the welterweight quarter-final.

The World Combat Games continue with twenty-two semifinals in the next competition day, with at least half of the remaining boxers under 21 years old.

Source & Article – AIBA

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BEIJING, 30^th August – When mentioned boxing, Chinese athlete ZOU Shiming is so famous that even women and children all know. His playing– “Private assault” is well known in the world. His fists are fast and fierce. And when he offenses, he could rise his fists in jig time. When he defenses, he could seek the chance to onset suddenly, scoring the points easily. As a Chinese saying, “No pride for the victory, no discouragement for the failure, those who keep calm physically and mentally, can be the ace.” There is no doubt that he will live forever in the history of boxing, being the leader of Chinese Boxers.

In the game of Men’s boxing 56 KG Quarter Final, ZOU Shiming beat his opponent, DAWID JAGODZINSKI (POL). He is so experienced that he performed very well both in the offense and defense, winning the 1^st round with the score of 3-0. In the second round, his flexible movements confused his competitor, who is not able to strike back any more. ZOU Shiming brought his lead to 6-0. In the 3^rd round, ZOU Shiming hold the dominate position, making the game done soon. His excellent performance offers a great feast for eyes to the spectators.

Zou Shiming will move on. It is only a beginning of his fascinating games.

Results of other games tonight:

JUANMEDINA HERRAD (DOM) entered the game of boxing Men’s 46-49 KG Final. MAHAMMAD ALWADI (JO) gets the access to the game of boxing Men’s 56 KG Semi Final. AHMAD ATEIMAT (JO) will appear in the court of boxing Men’s 91 KG Semi Final, and the same goes for TOMASZ DUSZAK, from Poland.

Source: Combat Games – Official Site

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