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.