Army and Air Force shine at Boxing Nationals

By Susil Premalal  

Army BC and Air Force BC pugilists stole the limelight at the 96th National Boxing Championships organised by the Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and held at the Royal MAS Arena in Colombo.  

Over 160 Men and Women boxers from 22 clubs competed for honours in the 2023 edition of the nationals, featuring a total of 135 bouts held over five days of competition.  
Army BC dominated the 96th National Boxing Championships, securing major awards, including the coveted Sir William Manning Challenge Trophy for the Best Boxer (Men).  
They clinched nine Gold Medals out of 13 weight classes in the Men’s competition, further solidifying their position in the sport.  

Having won five Gold Medals at the Layton Cup and nine Gold Medals at the Clifford Cup Tournaments, they retained the Muttiah Xavier Memorial Challenge Cup awarded to the Most Successful Men’s Club of 2023.  

Chamil Pathmasiri, who outpointed Navy’s W. M. G. K. G. I. Ariyarathna in the middleweight (Under-75kg) final, provided the icing on the cake for the Army when he was adjudged the Best Boxer of the meet.  

Intermediates Best Boxer D. H. Tissaraarachchi of Back2Fit was consoled with the Donald Munasinghe Challenge Trophy Best Loser Men’s Award after suffering a split decision in a thrilling duel with Army’s H. M. L. P. Jayawardana in the minimum (Under-48kg) weight class. 

 
Army BC received the Sgt. Selladorai Memorial Challenge Cup for the champion team at the national championship, winning nine Gold and three Silver medals, followed by Police BC and Navy BC.  

The Air Force continued their dominance in the Women’s competition, receiving the Neiva Embuldeniya Challenge Trophy for the champion team at the Nationals.  
They won five Gold Medals, one Silver Medal, and one Bronze Medal, followed by Army BC and Police BC.  

Ishara Perera of the Air Force BC, who outpointed M. D. P. Manathunga of the Army BC to win the featherweight (Under-57kg) title, was adjudged the Best Boxer while Army’s Tharindu Dasunika received the Best Loser’s Award after suffering a narrow decision against Air Force BC’s multiple national champion Sajeewani Cooray in the lightweight (Under-60kg) title clash