The second day of the Lions Cup international boxing tournament came to an end yesterday at the Sugathadasa Indoor stadium.
With the day’s bouts starting at 3.00 p.m. boxers from 11 nations prepared to start from where they left off the previous day. Fifteen bouts were scheduled to be fought. Sri Lanka was not short of support at the stadium with bus loads of crowds being brought to cheer the Lankans.
The first bout for the day saw Sri Lanka’s PGE Madushan take on Philippine’s Rogan Lodan. The bout was more of a Philippines favoured brawl where Madushan was outboxed in the first round but his sound technique got him back in the contest in the second round. It was an interesting bout and an even more interesting end result as Madushan was announced the winner of the first bout for the day.
The second bout for Sri Lanka was also the second bout for the day between Malaysia in the light flyweight category (46-19 kg) where MM Prabashwara took on Faud Redzuan. Prabashwara really took from where he ended the previous day constantly showing a good skill of boxing possessing an edge over the Malaysian pugilist. Prabashwara’s fine technique was on display just as his game the previous day against Chinese Taipei’s Tsung-Chuncheng which he won on a unanimous decision. It was the same cry of cheer from the crowd too like the day before as Prabashwara was announced winner of the bout.
Sri Lanka’s win percentage was a 100% after 6 bouts. It looked a really good day in the ring for the Sri Lankans.
PD Suresh did all to make sure he continued the wonderful winning streak as he counterpunched successfully plenty of times to take the win over Singapore’s Mohamad Hanurdeen Hamid in the flyweight (52 kg) bout. It was a top class bout against the two strong boxers but Suresh did despite not seeming his usual however, got the job done adding yet another win in the name of Sri Lanka.
Bout six for the day saw M Dilshan take on Malaysian pugilist Khir Azmi in the Light welterweight (64 kg) category. It was a match where heavy punches were exchanged; intense boxing from the start with a lot of feints in play, both players displayed a tactical performance of boxing within the ropes. Sri Lankan fans were not disappointed as Dilshan brought Sri Lanka its 4th win for the day and the 8th win in the Lions cup tournament.
Light welterweight (64 kg) boxer D Wijeyrathna took on the strong looking Kenyan Dennis Okuth in the next bout for Sri Lanka. The Kenyan looked lean and really strong and proved his strength in the ring with lot of hooks and jabs thrown at the host pugilist. The first defeat for Sri Lanka came as Kenyan Okuth beat Wijeyrathna to the disappointment of all present.
Things didn’t get any better from thereon as Sri Lanka lost bout after bout, the tournament’s international standards evidently starting to show. The bouts got intense as the day progressed.
Sri Lankan P Maduranga lost to Kenya’s Okwiri Raytow Nduku in the welterweight (64 kg) bout. The Kenyan looked equally strong as the previous team mate and the result was similar. The bout was hard to put into words. The only point that could be made is that the Kenyan was strong and quick delivering strong on the button occasionally disorientating the Lankan..
In the welterweight (64 kg) category the result was the same as the previous 2 bouts as PAI Rajapaksha took on Belgium’s Anas Messaoudi. Rajapaksha looked somewhat tired and didn’t look as if he was completely fit. The Belgian was strong on the other hand delivering strong hooks which Rajapaksha had to clinch off.
The two women’s matches also ended in utter disappointment as KAK Hansika lost to Korea’s Jana Park and HMK Udayangani lost to Chiniese Taipei’s Chia Ling Chen both in the women’s lightweight (57-60) weight class. The Sri Lankan ladies looked outmatched to their opponents and it was a disappointing end to the 2nd day for Sri Lanka.
With a rather sad day for the Sri Lankan team as well as the supporters the tournaments heat got under way with the toughness of international standards began to surface. The Sri Lankans would definitely be adamant to regain lost pride and try repeating the good they did on the first day of the tournament.
Day two results of the bouts were as follows;
Men’s
Women’s
