Busta Fighters floor star-studded USA

Ainsley Walters, Freelance Reporter

JAMAICA's combined martial arts team on Saturday wiped out a crack United States International Tae kwon do Federation (ITF) team in Connecticut, extending their winning streak at the annual tournament to four consecutive victories.

Using the tournament as a warm-up ahead of their World Continental title defence at the United States Open this summer, the Busta Fighters easily won the match-up 9-1, putting away a team which included multiple gold medal winners from last year's ITF World Championships, which were held in Quebec, Canada. Team captain Jason McKay said Jamaica won the first four matches before the USA made a comeback in match five, but lost the sixth bout.

"We got our best performances from Sean Cummings, Nicholas Dussard and Alrick Wanliss, who all won individual medals in addition to their team bouts," McKay pointed out.

Other medals

The team captain bagged Jamaica's other individual medal, a bronze in super heavyweight sparring.

Marcello Cancelliere, the United States' International Tae kwon do Federation's secretary general and coach of the USA team, had promised a keen contest but said the Jamaicans were too strong.

"We were not surprised because we knew them," he said. "We knew they were going to come strong. We also knew they had a very big team with a lot of hyper-weights."

Carlos Resende, a two-time national USA champion and 2007 World Championships medallist, captained the homesters, which also included John McLaughlin, another medallist from Quebec 2007.

"Jamaica's youngest fighter, the first one out, had very good technique and manners as well," Cancelliere noted, referring to Montegonian Alrick Wanliss, who has improved leaps and bounds since being drafted into the combined team last year.

"Kenneth Edwards we already knew, but the most impressive ones were the lighter fighters, their level was comparative to international quality combatants we've seen in world champs," he added.

The loss, Cancelliere said, was a wake-up call for the younger members of his squad, especially ahead of upcoming tournaments.

"This is our first tournament of the calendar year and a good measuring device to prepare for international competition especially for some of the juniors, who were stepping up to the senior ranks."