Jake Azzopardi (Kickboxing) and Kayden Laganà (Bowling) are the winners of April’s Atlas Youth Athletes of the Month Award.

Jake Azzopardi, at just 11 years old, has officially become Malta’s youngest gold medal winner at the ISKA European Kickboxing Championships, held recently in Malta. Competing under the guidance of Master Noel Mercieca, Azzopardi delivered an outstanding performance, clinching the gold medal in the Muay Thai 40-kilogram category. He also won a silver medal in Unified Rules and a bronze in K1 Light.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Kayden Laganà is receiving this monthly award for the third time, having previously won it in September 2020 and January 2021. Lagana’ managed to win bronze in the Masters at the European Youth Championships in Turkey. He advanced to the semifinals after a close victory over the favourite Turkish player Tuna Boncu. Laganà finished third and claimed the bronze medal after being defeated by France’s Timeo Dujardin, who went on to win the title.

The Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award was presented to the winners by Matthew von Brockdorff, Managing Director and CEO of Atlas Insurance. The Malta Sports Journalists Association was represented by Lorraine Cunningham and Stephen Azzopardi.

This award is a joint initiative of the Malta Sports Journalists Association and Atlas Insurance. The adjudicating panel of this award takes note of all the youths’ achievements of the month under review and at the same time it invites local sport associations and federations to send in their nominations for consideration if they feel that any of their under-21 athletes have distinguished themselves during that month. All the monthly winners are eligible for the annual award.

Nominations for this award may be sent via email to [email protected]. The rules and regulations of the award can be viewed on the website www.maltasportsjournalists.com

Photo caption: From left: Stephen Azzopardi (MSJA), Lorraine Cunningham (MSJA), Jake Azzopardi, Kayden Laganà, Matthew von Brockdorff (Atlas Insurance).