JAMAICA’s top female martial artist, Sheckema Cunningham, won her first European title last weekend when she snatched gold in the microweight division at the Dutch Open in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

The petite fighter and captain of the McKay Knights, Jamaica’s female combined martial arts team, was the only non-European and lone female black competitor among the 750-strong line-up of competitors at the Open.

Cunningham’s coach, Jason McKay, was pleased that his charge added another chapter to her already well-decorated career.

“She is the world’s best at this weight, and you can expect more from her later this year,” he warned, pointing out that the microweight star is being trained to peak in the summer.

Cunningham, meanwhile, said she was well prepared for the challenge in the Netherlands.

“We really emphasised cardio for the last five weeks, so the climate change didn’t really affect me.

“The snow and five-below-zero temperatures really made the weight loss required to compete difficult to attain, but I feel great. It was hard, but I was well prepared,” she said.

Cunningham made history in 2011 when she and Alrick Wanliss won bronze at the International tae kwon do Federation World Championships in New Zealand.

Last year, she became the first Jamaican woman to win an International Sports Karate Association (ISKA) world title when she defeated Argentina’s Anna Serrano, live on ESPN3, during the US Open’s Night of Champions at the Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida.