Sri Lankan Junior Boxers prove their class

Sri Lankan youth boxers in Malaysia with officials and organisers of the tournament

By Shamseer Jaleel

Sri Lanka Under-20 boxers showed their class by winning one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals at the 34th South Asian/South East Asian Boxing Championship in Penang, Malaysia, recently.

Former Nalandian Pasindu Mihiran, representing the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, won gold in the 51kg segment. He was the team’s captain.
The silver medals were won by Yasindu Premaratne (S. Thomas’ College, Mt.Lavinia) and Heshan Jayasinghe (St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy) for the 60kg and 63.5kg weight segments. Trinity College boxers Waruna Bandara and Salmaan Faris both won bronze medals in the 64kg and 48kg segments, respectively.

The youngest of the six-member team was T. Meegalla, an under-16 boxer from Royal College who missed out on winning a medal after a close loss. The team head coach was Asanka Rajapaksha, and Lahiru Senaratne and Bandula Gamage were the team coaches on tour.

Results:

Gold Medal: Umayanga Mihiran (51 KG)

Silver Medal: Yasidu Premarathne (60 KG), Heshan Jayasinghe (63.5 KG)
Bronze Medal: Waruna Bandara (64 KG), Salman Faris (48 KG)