Sri Lanka and Vietnam vie for MAS Holdings Cup

By M. Shamil Amit

The Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (ABA) have finalized plans to conduct a dual boxing contest between Sri Lanka and Vietnam to be held over two days with the first meet scheduled for July 22 (Saturday) at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium and the second meet at the Slimline boxing ring in Pannala on July 24 (Monday).

This will be the third successive dual meet that the ABA will be conducting under the patronage of incumbent president Dian Gomes who took over office three years ago. The first dual meet was conducted two years ago which was against India and the second was last year which was against Philippines. Since he became the president of the ABA, the local pugilists have had opportunity of participating in many international boxing meets and also to produce a medal winner in the Commonwealth Boxing meet after a lapse of nearly four decades.

The forthcoming dual contest will see ten boxers from each country taking part which includes three women boxers from both sides.

The first meet to be held on July 22 will be the main contest with the two countries vying for the MAS Holdings Cup which is on offer. This will also be a trial for the forthcoming South Asian Games due to be held in Sri Lanka next month.

The local boxers have a strong outfit with most of them having the experience of participating in international meets. The cynosure of all eyes will be Manju Wanniarachchi who has won medals in meets held abroad. Much will also be expected from Kamal Sameera who too have had immense foreign exposure while S.I. Kumara and Harsha Kumara are also capable of reaching the top.

In the women’s category all eyes will be on Anusha Kodituwakku who recently won a gold medal at the Women’s Open Championship held in Hanoi, Vietnam to become the first ever Lankan woman boxer to achieve this feat. The chief guest on the first day will be Mahesh Amalean, chairman of MAS Holdings (Pvt) Ltd.The probable teams:

Sri Lanka Men’s team-
T.M.C. Tennakoon (48 Kg), T.B. Harsha Kumara (51 Kg), M.D.K. Wanniarachchi (54 Kg), A.K.G.K. Sameera ( 57), K.W . R. G. G. Weligalle (60 Kg), A.G.N. Bandara (64 Kg) and S.I. Kumara (69 Kg).

Sri Lanka Women’s team-
Chandrika Guruge (46 Kg), Anusha Kodituwakku (48 Kg) and Nilmini Jayasinghe (50 Kg)

Vietnam Men’s team-
Nguyen Van Truong (48 Kg), Nguyen Dac Thang (51 Kg), Nguyen Phu Toai (54 Kg)
Le Tu Binh (57 Kg), Pham Son Tung (60 Kg), Tran Van Nam (64 Kg) and Dang Trung Hai ( 69 Kg)

Vietnam Women’s team- Do Thi Chien (46 Kg), Do Nhu Quynh (48 Kg) and
Nguyen Thi Hong Mai (50 Kg).