Female combined team to face tough Filipinos

Ainsley Walters, Gleaner Writer

JAMAICA's female combined team will face the Philippines on November 26 in what should be their biggest match to date; travelling to Manila for a 'blind date'.

The Philippines is yet to choose its squad to face Jamaica, who will again depend on team captain Cunningham. The 26-year-old led the charge in Jamaica's three victories to date and is the country's most decorated female fighter.

Cunningham was the only member of the team to medal at the Inter-national Taekwondo Federation World Championships (ITF) when she won bronze in New Zealand earlier this year.

The unbeaten squad, coached by Jason McKay, has three wins under its belt, defeating the United States and Trinidad and Tobago before taking out Vietnam at last year's Tri-Asian Championship.

This year, Jamaica's females have kept active on the United States ITF circuit in addition to local tournaments.

Cunningham will be first out for Jamaica, seeking to hand her team a valuable lead in the three-fighter contest.

The Philippines are considered kings and queens of microweight fighters, which makes Cunningham's task that much harder on their home ground, as most of their fighters fill that weight category.

Campion College's Tashauna Grannum will be relied on to anchor Jamaica to victory. She has never lost a team match and is being depended on to hand the team victory after Cunningham's lead.

Jamaica's third fighter is yet to be named. With Danielle Chang unavailable for the tour, her absence has swung the door open for a replacement lightweight fighter. Coach McKay said management was still looking at its options.

"We are considering our options and we are not restricting ourselves to adults," he said, indicating that the spot could very well be filled by a junior fighter and "the name will be released by this weekend".