Sri Lankans outclass Vietnam

By M. Shamil Amit

Sri Lanka completely outclassed Vietnam in the first Boxing Duel between the two countries concluded at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium last night. The Sri Lankans dominated the ten bout meet which included three events for women boxers as well.

M.D.K. Wanniarachchi deals a vicious left to Vietnam’s Ngugen Phu Toai who was outscored at 22-2 at the boxing duel held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium last night. Pic by Ranjith Perera

The locals were given a dream start from the start of the dual meet with the first women boxer to come to the ring L.G. Chandrika though winning her bout by just one point giving the morale booster and confidence for the boxers that followed.

The second win for the Lankans was given by Sri Lanka's first women gold medalist Anusha Kodituwakku who used her experience to outfox her rival with ease. The third Sri Lankan lass Nilimin Jayasinghe gave the women a three out of three when she completely destroyed her opponent. This was followed by the men's event where S.I. Kumara gave the much needed booster for his colleagues with an easy 21-12 win over Dang Trung Hai.

Sri Lanka took three more wins with A.G.N. Bandara, W.R.G.G. Weligalla and A.K.G.K. Sameera winning their bouts with the minimum of fuss. From there on it was Sri Lanka all the way as with the referee stopping the fight midway as the remaining trio of Manju Wanniarachchi, T.B. Harsha Kumara and T.M.C. Tennekoon outscored their opponents giving Sri Lanka a complete ten nil win. Sri Lankans T.B. Harsha Kumara and L.G. Chandrika were adjudged the best boxers in the men's and women's category respectively.

Results
Women's - Under 46kgs - L.G. Chandrika (Sri Lanka) beat Do Thi Chien (Vietnam) 14-13. Under 48kgs - Anusha Kodituwakku (Sri Lanka) beat Do Nhu Quynh (Vietnam) 19-14. Nilimini Jayasinghe (Sri Lanka) beat Nguyen Thi Hong Mai (Vietnam) 13-6.

Men's - Under 48kgs - T.M.C. Tennekoon (Sri Lanka) beat Nguyen Van Truong (Vietnam) 23-3. Under 51kgs - T.B. Harsha Kumara (Sri Lanka) beat Nguyen Dac Thang (vietnam) 21-1 Outscored). Under 54kgs - Manju Wanniarachchi (Sri Lanka) beat Nguyen Phu Toai (Vietnam) 22-2 Outscored). Under 57kgs - A.K.G.K. Sameera (Sri Lanka) beat Le Tu Binh (Vietnam) 28-7. Under 60kgs - W.R.G.G. Weligalle (Sri Lanka) beat Phan Son Tung (Vietnam) 29-10. Under 64kgs - A.G.N. Bandara (Sri Lanka) beat Tran Van Nam (Vietnam) 18-8. Under 69kgs - S.I. Kumara (Sri Lanka) eat Dang Trung Hai (Vietnam) 21-12.