Sameera ruled out of dual meet
Chris DHAMBARAGE
Sri Lanka Lions suffered a major setback when star boxer Kamal
Sameera was ruled out from the historic boxing dual meet against the
Moscow Bears men’s team which is scheduled to take place at the
Sugathadasa indoor stadium in Colombo today.
The bronze medallist at the 2005 Commonwealth Games and silver
medallist at the South Asian Federation Championships was set to meet
the three time World amateur feather weight champion Pavel Drobyshev in
a key bout which was also the main attraction in this inaugural contest.
However Sameera has pulled out from the squad with a virus flue and
he will be replaced by a promising boxer Saman Kumara. The other three
boxers who will compete in this contest are T. M. C. Tennekoon (48 kg),
Dumitha Wijeratne (51 kg) and D. M. Samarasekera (54 kg).
The Sri Lanka Lions women’s team will comprise of skipper Anusha
Kodituwakku (46 kg), Chandrika Guruge (48 kg) and J. A. N. K. Jayasinghe
(50 kg).
Meanwhile Dian Gomes the President of the Amateur Boxing Association
(ABA) of Sri Lanka since 2004 will be stepping down in February 2009.
His tenure spanning a period of five years saw the revival of the ABA
and boxing in Sri Lanka.
The focused drive to popularise the sport and improve standards saw
Sri Lanka producing medal winners at the SAF Games, Commonwealth Games,
Commonwealth Championships, and the prestigious Kings Cup as well as Sri
Lanka’s first gold medal winning female boxer Anusha Kodituwakku at the
Asian Championships in 2006.
His vision and drive catapulted the sport to new heights with the
country hosting a number of tournaments and a higher rate of
international meet participation for local boxers.
The spectator number also surged indicating the increase in
popularity of the sport in the country.
Gomes will certainly be remembered for his unshakable belief in the
talent of our athletes a belief that paved the way for the ABA’s
greatest triumph in its modern history when Anuruddha Ratnayake ranked
fifth at the AIBA World Championships in Chicago, thus qualifying for
the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the first Sri Lankan boxer in forty years to
do so.
After stepping down from the presidency Gomes will continue to be
actively involved in boxing development in Sri Lanka.
He will be part of the Executive Committee of the ABA and plans to
contribute to the grassroots level development of boxing in Sri Lanka as
well as upgrading the competitiveness of the national boxing team.
Meanwhile Anuruddha Ratnayake the first boxer to qualify for the
Olympics in 40 years will hang up his gloves to coach the next
generation of boxers. Ratnayake has had a considerable boxing experience
both on the domestic and international circuit.
One of his earliest medals was a silver earned at the 1999 SAF Games
in Kathmandu Nepal. A member of Slimline Boxing Club Ratnayake honed his
skills under the eyes of Dian Gomes and Cuban coach Frometa Matos.
In October 2007 Ratnayake competed in the AIBA World Championships in
Chicago earning a world ranking of five and qualifying for a place in
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
His presence in the ring will be missed although the nation has
gained a valuable coach one who is sure to inspire a new generation of
boxers to walk in his footsteps. |