Two promising pugilists for Asian Meet
Kavindu Karunasinghe
Sri Lanka Boxing Federation (SLBF) will bank heavily on two promising teenage pugilists — Kavindu Karunasinghe and Mihiran Umayanga — who will represent the country at the Asian Youth and Junior Boxing Championships 2021 to be held in Dubai from August 17 to 31.
Karunasinghe, 16, from Dheerananda Central, Pilimatalawa, will compete in the 50kg category in the Junior Championships. The 18-year-old Umayanga of Nalanda College, Colombo will take part in Youth Championships in the 51kg category. Both boxers are brimming with confidence to bring a medal to the country.
“At Olympic level, boxers who are between 18 and 24 win medals. I think it’s important to develop these athletes to the next level,” said Konthe Sunil, the coach of Karunasinghe, whose height is 5’9”.
National Coach Amila Aravinda, an international 3-star coach, has a vast experience of 27 years in coaching boxers. He has been coaching Umayanga since he was 11 at Vidyarthna Sports Club, Horana.
Umayanga has an impressive boxing career, training since 11 to make his debut at L.V. Jayaweera Meet and winning the gold medal in 2016. He bagged the second gold medal at the T.B. Jayah Meet in the same year competing in the 35kg-37kg weight category. He went on to make a great impression in his first All-Island meet, at the Stubbs Shield, winning a triple gold medal in his very first year.
Two years later, Umayanga won another gold medal at the Schools Junior Boys Tournament. His very first international bout was against Kazakhstan in the quarter-final at the Asian Junior Championship in 2019, and went down fighting for the first time in his life. Umayanga clinched another gold at the Sri Lanka Schools Junior Championship the same year.
Mihiran Umayanga
“My dream is to take part in 2024 Olympic and win a gold medal for Sri Lanka,” ambitious Umayanga predicted.
“Umayanga, has competed around 22 bouts at various local meets, and has never lost a single bout,” said his coach Aravinda.
Sri Lanka has never won a medal at the history of Asian Junior or Asian Youth category. The local sports body is overwhelmed by the records of the two pugilists and are heavily relying on them at the regional meet.
“They are the best two in the country. Although the team we send is small, we believe we can make a history, by winning a medal this time,” said Secretary of Sri Lanka Boxing, M. Abdulla.
Last year, Karunasinghe went down fighting in the quarter-final bout and Mihiran competed well and both qualified out of 38 boxers following a special selection trial conducted by Sri Lanka Boxing Federation on July 10 and 11 at the Royal MAS Arena.
“SLBF President Dian Gomes’ policy is to send the best available athletes for international competitions without sending boxers on mere trips,” the Secretary added. For the first time, national body has taken over the junior selection and the tour planning from the Schools Boxing Association.
“We know how to win a medal this time, we have make tactical changes. Both these players have the experience competing the tournament last year,” said Abdulla, an international two-star coach. The two boxers will be accompanied by Amila Aravinda Tissera as coach for Umayanga and Sunil, as coach for Karunasinghe. Susantha Weerasena will take part as a referee. The organisers, Asian Boxing Confederation, expects a record number of athletes from the top nations as 28 countries are expected to participate.