Lankan women boxers steal the limelight in New Delhi

Chris DHAMBARAGE

In a major boost to the game the Sri Lanka women's boxing team put up a tremendous performance to win three bronze medals at the IBA Asian championships worked off in New Delhi last week.

Nilmini Kumari Jayasinghe, Anusha Dilrukshi Kodituwakku and A. A. Nilanthi made a fine impact as they reached the semifinals of their respective weight categories to secure a bronze medal each.

Their efforts were even more significant considering the fact that they were up against some of the top women boxers who had plenty of experience behind them having participated in a number of international tournaments.

In contrast the Sri Lankan trio had limited international exposure ahead of this important event but they were quite determined to make an impact and win a medal for their country.

The performance of Olympic boxer Anuruddha Ratnayake not only inspired the Sri Lankan squad but his guidance and words of advice certainly have done a lot of good considering the final outcome.

In fact Ratnayake was able to provide some vital tactics before their departure to India after having trained under the guidance of the Cuban coach Rafeal.

In addition the Sri Lanka women's team performed something extra ordinary by practising along with the men's team occasionally and that has given them an extra bit of courage and mental strength to fight their way when under pressure.

Twenty seven year old Nilmini Kumari Jayasinghe said that she was able to overcome her opponent from Nepal in the quarterfinals quite convincingly on points. However she lost the semifinal bout on points 3-12 after having battled during the full three rounds of the competition.

Jayasinghe who had also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Asian championships in Vietnam believed that all the hard work and training they indulged with the Cuban coach and Anuruddha Ratnayake at the Pannala Gymnasium had helped her to produce the ingredients of success.

The Human Resource Executive of Slimline is the reigning national champion in her weight category (50 kgs) having dominated the local scene since 2001.

Twenty eight year old Anusha Dilrukshi Kodituwakku said that this was a tournament of high standard where some of the top boxers from 12 countries participated.

The Asian championship gold medallist of course lamented that she could have performed much better and defeated her opponent in the semifinal of the under 46 weight class event. She regretted for not having produced her best effort despite the heavy odds and the amount of pressure mounting on her.

But still Kodituwakku said that she was pleased with this effort which could be a good morale booster ahead of the next World Championships to be staged in November in China. She defeated her Korean opponent on points 13-3 in the quarterfinals but lost the semifinal bout 3-10.

Kodituwakku said that the competition at this meet was at the highest level and many favourite medal winners were forced to make an early exit with the entry of some promising boxers. In fact she believed that the Asian meet was even tougher then the World championships.

Kodituwakku had also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Championships in Vietnam and produced a similar effort at the Chinese Taipei open meet and is presently the reigning national champion in the under 48 kgs weight class event.

Meanwhile the President of the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) of Sri Lanka Dian Gomes said that he was not surprised with this performances considering the fact that women's boxing in the country is at a higher standard.

"Our women's boxing standard is very much high even than men because in the Asian level we are in the medal winning range. I believe this is a great way forward for the reason that we have already Anusha Kodituwakku as Asia's fly weight champion.

The vice president of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) also said that the three women's boxers are capable of making an impact in the upcoming World Championships too.

"We are seriously looking at these three girls representing the country at the World championships in November in China. We will be making another attempt to get our girls into world class fighting machines. I think it is a great way forward to become Asia's bronze medallist.

When you look at women's boxing it is in really good shape these days for the reason that we have been able to win a number of medals over the last few years. If you look at the Clifford Cup meet today you can see more and more entrants from clubs and schools taking part in women's boxing".

Dian Gomes also said that the outstanding performance of Anurudda Ratnayake certainly have done a lot of good to the country and boxing overall.

"Ratnayake made history by representing Sri Lanka in Olympics after 40 years and the three girls winning bronze medals at the Asian championships also would take boxing forward. There is a great enthusiasm after Ratnayake's participation at the Olympic Games".

Dian Gomes also emphasised on a long term plan to develop the game in the country. "We need to have a 4 to 8 year plan which is already in place now and we are formally going to forward the plan to the Sports Ministry in the next six week's.

We have a very serious plan for the 2012 Olympic Games and also for the girls who are going for the World championships.

We need to focus our attention on selected few people basically the first four weight categories and by giving them the total attention we could win a medal during the next four years.

Gomes concluded by stating that the upcoming dual contest against Moscow will also be another great opportunity for the women boxers to make an impact at the highest level.