Boxer Shiromila does Lanka proud

Thushan JAYASURIYA

Shiromila Weeraratne,a talented sportswoman has done Sri Lanka proud with her victories in Boxing. Recently she won the Bronze Medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship 2012 , which she contested under the 69 Weight Class representing the SL Police Sports Club.

Participation of large number of contestents from several asian countries such as Japan, China, Thailand, Kazakhastan, Mongolia,India and Pakistan was significant in the event.Beating the contestant from Thailand by 19 – 14 and winning the bronze medal of the event was a special occatsion for Sri Lanka.

This is the third medal for Sri Lanka and it is the first medal won by sportswoman who represented the Police Department And the other most significant thing is this the first time that Sri Lanka won a medal representing a national team.

Born in Beliatta in 1983, She went to Heendeliya Kanishta Vidyalaya for primary education and She attended to Puwakdanda Dharmapala Balika Vidyalaya for her higher studies.

She has excelled in Kabadi and Athletics in her school age.In 2001, she won the national schools championship and the award for the most talented sportswoman.

Shiromila, in 2006 joined Sri Lanka Police as an Amateur Police Constable with the intention of serving her motherland.After a training period of eight months at Kalutara Police Training College, she worked at Deniyaya and Matara Police Stations.

The Police Boxing Trainer S.I. Bandula identified Shiromila's talent and encouraged her to engage in boxing sport, when the police was searching for the talented boxing players.From there after, she played for Police Sports Division.She has achieved Leighton Cup 2010,2011, Clifford Trophy and six medals representing national championshipwithin a three years of time.

The achievement of the medal by Shiromila , who has shown her talents in every sport is a great luck for Sri Lanka and the Police Department.She has shown the signs of a future Olympic star athlete.