Busta Fighters sweep Tae Kwon Do Open

Ainsley Walters, Gleaner Writer

BUSTA FIGHTERS and their female counterparts, the McKay Lady Knights, ruled supreme in black-belt action at Saturday's Busta Tae kwon Do Open, at the University of Technology auditorium.

Members of the combined martial arts team, the Busta Fighters, swept the men's divisions by not only winning, but also having fighters in all three finals.

Lady Knights' Tashauna Grannum and her captain, Sheckema Cunningham, won the junior and adult female divisions, respectively.

The other standout of the tournament was Sidekicks Tae Kwon Do's domination of patterns - two divisions won by brothers Phillip and Kevin McDowell, sons of master instructor Delroy McDowell.

Coach Claude Chin was happy with the combined team members' sweep of the finals.

"It was wonderful. They trained well," he said. "This event was part of training geared to the International Sports Karate Association Gold Cup here on July 4 at the National Indoor Sports Centre and the World Con-tinental Team-fighting Championship in Orlando a week later."

Chin said the combined team members "utilised the techniques we worked on in training" but "there are some little adjustments to make".

Nicholas Dussard got past his tae kwon do teammate, Alrick Wanliss, to win the lightweight title, to complete a Jamaica Tae Kwon Do one-two.

Another match-up

Ningen Karate's Scott Wright, who got by Future Leaders' Dwayne Vascianne in another match-up of combined team fighters, won the middleweight division.

Wright, whom many thought would have been beaten by Vascianne, proved he was a crunch fighter by coming out on top.

Ningen's Kenneth Edwards, who had to get past a determined Shiah Shukura, won the heavyweight title over his combined teammate.

The McKay Lady Knights were also at their best, setting the stage for their male counterparts in the combined team.

Grannum of Campion College and Jamaica Tae Kwon Do easily went past rivals in taking the female black belt junior title.

Cunningham of Future Leaders battled arch-rival Carol Bennett of World Zendo, before facing Kimberley Gordon of Sidekicks Tae Kwon Do.

Winning the patterns

Gordon battled bravely and further impressed on her black belt debut by winning the patterns.

McKay, who coaches the females and captains the men's team, said the girls came well once again.

"I am very pleased with Cunningham and Grannum," he said. "I believe Tashauna could have done better. I didn't like Cunningham's first fight but she was flawless after that."

Calabar won the high schools' division, whereas Wright was male grand champion and Gordon female winner.

The biggest upset of the evening was in the adult black belt, male and female patterns, which saw regulars such as Edwards, Cunningham and Dussard eliminated by Sidekicks' domination.