Manju calls it a day

Sri Lanka’s best hope for an Olympic medal in 2012 Manjula Wanniarachchi in a rush of unfolding events yesterday announced his decision to retire from boxing. Wanniarachchi’s talent was spotted while he was a 19 year old schoolboy from Vidyartha College, Kandy and while representing the country during the 1999 SAF Games in Katmandu.

As a result Manju immediately came under the wings of Dian Gomes, who was working towards a boxing resurgence in Sri Lanka and within a career span of 11 years he brought in the most number of international medals in boxing for Sri Lanka.

This includes the Silver Medal at the 2007 Kings Cup in Thailand, the Bronze Medal at the 2008 Kazakhstan Olympic Trials, where he narrowly missed the qualifying for the Olympics, and the Silver Medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Championships.

He was also the unbeaten Sri Lankan Bantamweight Champion for over 10 years. He had an unbeaten run at the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi, where he won the Gold Medal defeating Sean McGoldrick of Wales.

However, his medal was stripped by Commonwealth Games Secretariat for alleged use of prohibited substance, a charge which was strongly contested by Manju. With his decision to retire, he has also withdrawn his intention to appeal to the World Anti-Doping Association in Switzerland.

(CD)