ABA invited for a dual meet in Moscow

Chris Dhambarage

The Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) of Sri Lanka received a tremendous boost when they were invited for a dual contest against Russia which is proposed to take place in Moscow in March next year.

This was following the historic and the successful dual meet between the Sri Lankan Lions and the Moscow Bears team that took place at the Sugathadasa indoor stadium in Colombo on Saturday.

Sri Lanka Lions of course lost the contest and the Sherman Logistics Challenge Trophy because they were able to produce only two winners out of the seven bouts worked off in this inaugural meet. However unfancied Saman Priyadarshana Silva put up a stunning performance to overcome the more experienced Pavel Drobyshev in the men's feather weight 57 kgs weight category bout 7-2 on points.

Twenty one year old Silva from Silmline Boxing Club was a last minute replacement for the Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Kamal Sameera who was ruled out with a virus flue while Drobyshev was a three time World amateur youth feather weight champion.

The Russian delegation which accompanied the seven boxers left the island yesterday having made a strong pledge to further upgrade the standard of the sport in Sri Lanka in search of their first Olympic medal in 2012.

The vice president of the Russian Boxing Federation Vladimuv Sulkon and their International Development Manager Fedor Kirivoutine were impressed with Sri Lanka's progress in the sport and has committed to provide their fullest support with more international meets in Moscow. They have also shown keen interest in conducting this dual contest annually.

The President of the ABA Dian Gomes said that Russia as the super power in World boxing are quite willing to help Sri Lanka gain more recognition in the international scene following Anuruddha Ratnayake's unsuccessful attempt at the Beijing Olympic Games recently.

Ratnayake from Slimline BC earned a World ranking of five while reaching the quarterfinals at the AIBA World Championships in Chicago, United States of America in 2007 thus qualifying and becoming the first boxer to compete at the Olympic Games in 40 years.

Ratnayake of course has now reached a compulsory retirement age of 34 but has decided to take up coaching more seriously and is expected to inspire a new generation of boxers who would walk in his footsteps in the future.

The President of the ABA Dian Gomes said that Anuruddha Ratnayake has set an example for the up and coming boxers and hoped there will be many who would emulate or even perform better than him in the coming years.