Kickboxing: Daniel "the Jet " Zahra wins in Ireland

Ying Yang Kickboxing Team Noel went to Northern Ireland to represent Malta in a K1 competition sanctioned by the World Kickboxing Network ( WKN ). The Maltese athletes were Daniel "the Jet " Zahra and Brandon Spiteri with the coach Master Noel Mercieca and manager Isaac Chetcuti.

" The Jet " had a 5x3 match with K1 rules against Gary Hamilton, an athlete from Northern Ireland. Hamilton is known to be one of the best athletes in the country and has several international titles. During all the bouts Hamilton began using his former class to help him win. But this was not enough to keep Zahra from attacking and gaining points.  "The Jet " knocked down Hamilton four times, once in the first round with a hand technique, twice in the second with knee strikes and once in the third with a knee. Hamilton's coach decided to stop the match at the end of the third round and thus Daniel "the Jet " Zahra kept the WKN World Title Belt in his category .

The second athlete from Team Noel was Brandon Spiteri who had a 4x2 match against an athlete from Northern Ireland . He faced Alex Coicoi for the European Amateur Title in his category. Spiteri began attacking constantly to keep the pressure on Coicoi but from his part countered a lot and gained points. In the third round the Northern Ireland's athlete started with a hard attack which put Spiteri on the defense and thus forcing the referee to stop the match and giving the victory by TKO to Coici.

This was the last activity for Noel Team regarding competitions in the disciplines of Kickboxing, K1, Mixed Martial Arts and Boxing. But the next year will be one filled where athletes from Team Noel will participate in competitions of all disciplines at both local and international level. In November Zahra also received a special award for sports in the evening organised by the Malta Olympic Committee. For more information visit of Ying Yang Kickboxing Facebook page or contact Master Mercieca on 79208283 .