For the first time ever, four Maltese athletes of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu took part in the European Jiu-Jitsu International Open in Lisbon, Portugal. For this year’s edition which is held annually at the end of January, over 1800 athletes from every corner of the world gathered together for this event, one of the largest BJJ competitions in Europe and the third biggest event after the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships and the Brazilian Championships.

The Maltese team was composed of Tyrone Camilleri, Jozua Curmi, Michelle Zarb and their Instructor Keith Darmanin. Both Tyrone Camilleri and Jozua Curmi competed in the Adult Male -70kg White Belt Category which had a total of 53 competitors. Camilleri managed to win his first match by a perfectly executed arm lock, thus securing his place for the second round. Unfortunately he lost his second match by points. Curmi, who normally competes in the -64kg, had a good performance but lost his first match on points.

Michelle Zarb, who took part in the Adult Female -53.5kg White Belt category had an excellent performance. For her first match she faced a Brazilian athlete from Gracie Humaita of the legendary Royler Gracie. Zarb managed to score several points and finally ended this match by making her opponent surrender by applying a tight choke from the back. For her second match she came across a French athlete. Again Zarb managed to secure points early in the match thereby winning her semi-final match. For the final match she faced a very tough Polish athlete. Again the Maltese athlete managed to score points early in the match whilst defending well against all the attempts made by the other athlete. After 6 minutes of non stop action, Zarb had her arm raised and declared European Champion for her category. Thus she became the first ever Maltese athlete to win a competition organised by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), the largest BJJ federation in the world.

Meanwhile, BJJ Malta Instructor Keith Darmanin competed in the Master -70kg Blue Belt category where he had to face an American competitor coached by Andre’ Negao, one of the top BJJ Brazilian coaches. The match was quite balanced with the British player scoring minimal points in the middle of the match. Darmanin attacked with a wonderful combination of techniques but the other player defended well and won the match by minimum points.

This high level competition confirmed that, although this sport is relatively new to our country, the technical level continues to grow stronger. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was introduced by Keith Darmanin at the beginning of last year after he became the first ever Maltese to be awarded his Blue Belt by Rogerio Olegario, head coach of League Jiu-Jitsu Italy. More information can be found at http://www.bjjmalta.com/

The photograph shows Michelle Zarb – 1st place European Champion.

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