Boxing haul of 11 medals marks Sri Lanka’s best | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

Boxing haul of 11 medals marks Sri Lanka’s best

22 December, 2019
The Sri Lanka boxing squad that competed at the recently concluded 13th South Asian Games in Nepal comprising Sanjeewa Nuean 49 kgs, KVL Eranda  52 kg (Bronze), GNK Amarawansa 56Kgs, Wimukthi Kumara 60 kgs (Bronze), PVDD Saparamadu 64 kgs (Bronze), NM Hettiarachchi 69kgs, PDD Maduranga 75 kgs (Silver), WAR Sandakalum 81 kgs (Gold), ARBE Tillekaratne 91 kgs (Bronze), Nadeeka Pushpakumari 49 kgs (Bronze), KAK Nilmini 51 kgs (Bronze), MPPS Cooray 54 kgs (Bronze), KAD Dharmathilaka  57 kgs (Silver), KAK Hansika
The Sri Lanka boxing squad that competed at the recently concluded 13th South Asian Games in Nepal comprising Sanjeewa Nuean 49 kgs, KVL Eranda 52 kg (Bronze), GNK Amarawansa 56Kgs, Wimukthi Kumara 60 kgs (Bronze), PVDD Saparamadu 64 kgs (Bronze), NM Hettiarachchi 69kgs, PDD Maduranga 75 kgs (Silver), WAR Sandakalum 81 kgs (Gold), ARBE Tillekaratne 91 kgs (Bronze), Nadeeka Pushpakumari 49 kgs (Bronze), KAK Nilmini 51 kgs (Bronze), MPPS Cooray 54 kgs (Bronze), KAD Dharmathilaka 57 kgs (Silver), KAK Hansika 60 kgs (Bronze), Coaches Amila Aravinda, SPCS Jayathilaka, RCP Abeyratne, WMMR Wekadapola

The Sri Lanka boxing contingent comprising of 14 members who participated at the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal was able to grab a haul of 11 medals.

Nine boxers won one gold, one silver and four bronze medals while the five women fighters did well to collect a silver and four bronze medals.

They were accompanied by the men’s coach SPCS Jayatilleke while the women’s coach was RCP Abeyratne and the boxers were under the guidance of Aubrey Pieris the past president of the Sri Lanka Boxing Association. Peiris is a treasure trove packed with lots of experience having accompanied national teams on foreign tours. He was also a fine boxer during his younger days at Royal College captaining the College team in 1985 and at present he serves as the vice president of the SLBA.

Peiris managed the boxing team to the South Asian Games in India 20 years ago with a team of 10 members and was able to collect a haul nine medals which was the best until the achievement in Nepal this month. Speaking to the Sunday Observer, Peiris said that the achievements in Nepal marked a turning point for boxing in Sri Lanka.

According to Peiris both men and women boxers praised the services rendered by their coaches to win medals and bring honour to the country.

“Silver medallist MDD Maduranga missed the gold medal which we were sure of in a split second.

“During his fight he was floored by the Indian boxer with only ten seconds left while the referee counted up to eight the bell rang before he was up and gave the victory to his opponent,” said Peiris. Krishni Dharmatilleke was the best out of the women boxers to win the only silver medal in her weight class.

“Her coach RCP Abeyratne had done a lot of hard work to train these girls to keep them in fine fettle which brought good results not only for them but to the whole country,” said Peiris.

The women’s achievement was a fine one compared with the small number of five members and wining five medals.

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