Sri Lanka’s top combat sports duo, Malinda Amarasinghe and Sylvester Silva, managed to stamp their class with great victories at the KOK Elimination Series 3, held under K-1 rules in Kolkata, India recently.
Malinda Amarasinghe represented the co-main event, and he outclassed India’s Harsh in the Light Middleweight division with sharp striking and pressure fighting. Malinda, who is well-reputed with his nickname “Boyka,” hails from Kurunegala and is an old boy of Maliyadeva College. Malinda has excelled in combat sports in many disciplines like MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), Wushu (Sanda), full-contact Karate, Muay Thai and Boxing. He was featured as the main event fighter at Thailand Fighting Championship 5 (Bangkok, Jan 2022), where he was defeated by the former champion Rockie Bactol. Despite the loss, he’s viewed as a trailblazing figure for Sri Lankan combat sports, aiming to help establish MMA and bare-knuckle in the Sri Lankan athletic landscape.
In the main event, Sylvester Silva executed a superb show to defeat the strong Indian opponent, Vishwav. Silva also hails from Kurunegala and is a past pupil of St. Anne’s College. With this win he managed to bag the division title and stamped his reputation as one of Sri Lanka’s most dangerous K-1 strikers. Apart from this victory, Sylvester Silva managed to clinch the KFL Open Weight Championship in Colombo earlier this year, and with these back-to-back victories, he had already become a growing threat in the regional fighting arena.
According to the President of the World K-1 Federation of Sri Lanka, Dayan Samarasekara, the “Karma Fight League” (KFL) has immensely contributed to sharpening the skills of the youth fighters in Sri Lanka while providing much important popularity to the combat sports.
While both fighters are in good rhythm, the young athlete duo has stolen the spotlight in the grand event, the next edition of Karma Fight League, which will take place on July 25 at Cinnamon Life – City of Dreams in Colombo.
