Slimline BC Pannala seeking to retain national title
The 89th National Boxing Championships 2013 is scheduled to be worked off from December 9 to 13, at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium from 3.00 p.m. onwards each day.
The national boxing championship, conducted by the Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (ABA), will see the cream of boxers from leading boxing clubs in the island in action.
The championship is open to all male and female boxers who are over 19 and below 40 years of age. Only boxers who have qualified in major boxing meets such as the ABA Novices, Intermediate, Stubbs Shield and winners of the junior nationals boxing meet are eligible to take part.
Defending champions Slimline Boxing Club Pannala, who won the national title last year when it was held in Kandy for the first time in its history, will be seeking to retain the title.
Boxers from the other top clubs that will be in action are Army, Navy, Air Force, MAS Unichela, MAS Silueta, Police and MAS Southern as well as school pugilists from Vidyartha, Kingswood, Roal and Vidyarathana University Horana.
They will be fielding their top boxers including Manju Wanniarachchi, who will be back in contention after his two-year ban. The 56kg bantam weight bout which Manju will fight is no doubt going to be the best of the championship, where he will meet the reigning national champion, Gayan Jayaweera.
The weigh-in preceded by the medical examination for both the male and female categories will be held on December 8 between 8.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.
This will be followed by the draw, which is scheduled to be held on the same day at the Sugathadasa Hotel. The AIBA ten points computer system, computerized draw and the ABA Ex-Co approved seeding system will be used for the draw.
The weigh-in and medical examination on December 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 for the boxers who will be fighting on that particular day will be held between 7.00 and 8.00 a.m. at the same venue.
In the women’s category last year’s best boxer Anusha Kodituwakku is expected to dominate the proceedings this year too, with a keen contest being looked forward to in the other bouts.
The winners of the championship in the various categories will qualify for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held in Scotland next year.
However the boxers will be selected based on their tactical ability, physical fitness, ring craft and ability to win international medals, which will be judged on their performance on the final day of the championship.