Back to old glory of Boxing

IN a largely unheralded sporting achievement that is possibly comparable to the historic accomplishments of the likes of Duncan White, Susanthika Jayasinghe and Arjuna Ranatunga's team of 1996, two Sri Lankan boxers brought honour to the country by bringing home two boxing medals from the Commonwealth Boxing Championships that concluded last week.

After a lapse of 57 years Harsha Kumara earned his country a Bronze in the Light- Flyweight (48kg) category, and Kamal Sameera also won a Bronze medal in the featherweight (57 kg) category.

The last Commonwealth boxing medal that a Sri Lankan won was in 1948 when Barney Henricus won a medal at the games then known as the 'Empire Games'.

Part of the six member contingent that represented Sri Lanka at the Games in Glasgow, Scotland this year, Harsha Kumara, a former boxer from Vidyartha College Kandy had tasted success in a number of local competitions such as the Layton Cup, Clifford Cup and National Boxing Championship.

He represented Sri Lanka in the Indonesian President's Cup Championship Tournament in the year 2000 and at the SAF Games 2004 held in Pakistan where he won Gold.

Considering the Commonwealth victory his greatest achievement so far Harsha says his triumph is a "a dream come true!" Harsha lost his semi-final match to Indian champ M. Balbir.

A. K. G. Kamal Sameera, who lost his semi-final to the eventual Gold Medallist Steven Smith from England, is still only 22 years of age and hails from Ratnapura. He is a product of Seevali MMV.

He excelled while representing his school and the Slimline Boxing Club, winning at many tournaments including the T. B. Jayah Memorial Cup, Stubbs Shield (National School Games), the Layton Cup, Clifford Cup and The National Boxing Championship.

His accomplishments for his country are equally impressive, participating in the Green Hill Cup (2003), SAF Games, Pakistan (2004) in which he won the silver medal and the President's Cup in Indonesia (2004) where he secured the bronze.

Sameera believes that this win would help him during international competitions in the future, mainly due to the exposure of taking part in an event of this magnitude. "My aim is to win more medals for Sri Lanka and put our country on the world map in the sphere of boxing" says Sameera.

Out of the contingent representing Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games, Kamal Sameera, Manju Wanniarachchi and Anuruddha Ratnayaka travelled to Scotland directly from Cuba, Where they were training under their coach, Cuban trainer Jorge Frometa.

President of the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) Dian Gomes stated that foreign tours and international competitions were a vital part of our boxers becoming world beaters and bemoaned the scarcity of support received for the sport.