'Crowd support helped a great deal'

Ainsley Walters, Gleaner Writer

COACH Claude Chin said fantastic crowd support for the Busta Fighters, Jamaica's combined martial arts team, played a key role in the fighters winning a fourth straight World Continental Team-Fighting Championship at the NationaI Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday.

Led by fantastic performances from the trio of Alrick Wanliss, Nicholas Dussard and Kenneth Edwards, Jamaica won their two matches in rapid action, dispatching Poland in the semi-finals before taking out Argentina, both without dropping a point.

A bye to the semi-finals in the six-team showdown saw Wanliss beating world-ranked Pole Amit Batra, setting the pace for Dussard and Edwards, who did not disappoint.

"We knew we'd be in for a hard fight, especially with Poland and Argentina," Chin said after the action-packed and historic tournament, which pulled a fair-size, vociferous crowd.

"We knew Argentina well but they really came hard, especially with us being on home soil," Chin pointed out.

"What happened was the crowd support, the guys got helped them a great deal. It might have looked easy but it was that crowd support. We're always fighting abroad and, with the home support, they just exploded.

"This is the best I have seen them fight. They gave the maximum," he added.

The team-fighting championship featured world champions in every division, including Jamaica's Wanliss, New Zealand's duo of Carl Van Roon and Mark Trotter, Canada's Maxime Bujold and the Argentinian pair of Denis 'El Negro' Turnes and Batista.

Cleaning up

In the opening match, Poland easily beat Japan before Jamaica ran past Poland, Edwards cleaning up after Wanliss and Dussard.

Canada afterwards defeated New Zealand in a close encounter, but were overpowered by Argentina in the semi-finals.

A hyped-up Jamaica came out roaring for the final, for which Argentina won the toss and asked the hosts to send out their first fighter. Wanliss answered the call and his first kicks caught Martin Duran in the face.

Whereas Wanliss was all finesse, Edwards and Dussard, who fought Serrano and Turnes, respectively, gave their opponents no breathing room, jumping on them in attack after attack.

"We lost the toss and they asked us to send out our first fighter," said Chin. "We knew what they were planning, so we went at full blast and gave it all in three," he explained.

"After the world continental, they were all drained, apart from the two who did not fight," Chin pointed out. "They were so drained, we did not expect much from them in the individuals for the Gold Cup."

Jamaica finished third in the Gold Cup behind impressive Poland and New Zealand.