The Stubbs shield-winning Royal College boxing team, which also emerged champions at the National School Games, returned to the island after a highly successful tour of Germany.
Royal boxers, coached by Abdullah Ibunu, made their presence felt at the Sven Lange Memorial International boxing meet 2017 held in Schwerin, winning one gold medal and two bronze medals. Boxers from 20 European countries and three Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, competed at the three-day meet.
Royal’s golden boy was R.A. Althaf who beat Mongolia’s Knkh-Amgalan in the final of the 49kg weight class to secure the gold medal.
Royal M.M.A. Ahamed (52kg) and H.V.D. Hettiarachchi 56kg category won two bronze medals. Ahamed and H.V.D. Hettiarachchi who made their way to semi finals of their respective weight categories lost to a Mongolian competitor, while Hettiarachchi in the semi final to an English boxer in a keenly contested bout.
K.K.C. Priyasinghe, the fourth member of the touring Royal team, reached entered the quarter finals but faild to qualify for the semi final losing to Northern Ireland boxer.
The team was managed by former Royal Stubbs Shield boxer and ex-Sri Lanka ABA President Aubrey Peiris with K.A.L. Amarasekera as Assistant Manager. Riyaz Aluher accompanied the team as its master-in-charge.
Peiris stressed the importance of competing at meets of this magnitude. “It was a great exposure not only to the boys but also to their coach who gained lot of knowledge from nay experienced international coaches”, he added.
The former Sri Lanka boxing chief said it is a landmark tour by a school boxing team to compete at a top European meet. “Most importantly, all four boxers who took part in the tour could play for Royal next year too. Hence, we could expect even a better performance by them at the 2018 Stubbs Shield meet”, Peiris said.
Coach Ibanu said he is pleased with the performances of the Royal team under unfamiliar weather conditions at an international meet. He commended the performance of Althaf for his stunning performance to win the 49kg gold medal.
“The other three members too put up a good performance and it was a good exposure to the team after the boys emerged champions at this year’s Stubbs Shield meet”, he noted.
The Royal coach thanked ABA chief Dian Gomes and Hela Clothing for the support and encouragement extended to make the tour a success. Ibunu also thanked Royal College Group of 92, Principal B.A. Abeyratne and the Boxing Advisory Committee of Royal College for supporting the team.