St. Sylvester’s clinches Stubbs Shield for fourth straight year

St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy, proved their boxing supremacy once again by clinching the prestigious Stubbs Shield for the fourth consecutive year and 18th time overall, at the 105th Stubbs Shield Inter-School Boxing Championship held at the Royal MAS Arena. The Sylvestrians displayed an outstanding performance, winning four golds and two silvers in the finals.

Royal College, Colombo, finished as runners-up with three golds, three silvers, and a bronze. Royal’s captain, Thenuwan Bandara Meegalla, a Taipei City Cup gold medalist, was named the Best Boxer in the Senior Boys’ division, receiving the Col. T.Y. Wright Challenge Cup for his impressive performance.

In the Girls’ division, Siri Perakum Vidyalaya, Kotagala emerged champions, winning three golds and one silver. Sri Pragnarathne Central College, Gelioya, secured the runner-up position with three golds and three bronzes.

Chathuni Jagathya Siriwardena of Hemamali Girls College, Kandy, earned the Best Boxer award in the Senior Girls 48kg category for her excellent ringcraft and technique, defeating MKM Muthuni of Dharmaloka College.

Notable performances included Vidyatharathana University College, Horana, who dominated the Junior Boys division with golds from Naranayana Binul Dulanga (46kg), Wickrama Arachchilage Janindu Dhananjaya (48kg), and Nehan Prasanna Kularathna (54kg).

The finals began with some surprises. St. Sylvester’s suffered an early setback when Ahsan Ahmedh (52kg) and TMRL Thennakoon (56kg) lost in the Youth Boys category to Nilusha Deshan Thathsara and Lokumanage Deshan Thathsara of Nalanda College.

However, St. Sylvester’s bounced back with Mohamad Azhar’s (Youth Boy 69kg) tough win by unanimous points decision against LDD Rashmika of Dombagoda Seelarathana MV, claiming their first gold.

St. Sylvester’s continued their dominance in the Senior Boys division despite a surprising loss from Novices Best Boxer SPP Angelo (52kg) against Ryan Nirmal Weerasekera of Trinity College, Kandy. Weerasekera displayed superb technique, forcing Angelo’s corner to throw in the towel in the third round.

The Sylvestrians sealed their victory with Sadun Kavinshka Heshan’s unanimous win (60kg), along with impressive performances by Deshan Jayasundara (64kg) and Vimarshana Heshan Jayasinghe (69kg), a 2023 youth international gold medalist.

Royal College’s heavyweights, Kandegedara Mudiyanselage Malith Bandara (75kg) and Sahan Perera (81kg), secured victories, helping them hold onto second place.

The Girls’ division also saw remarkable performances, particularly from Northern Province boxers Loganathan Kagenthiny of Poonthodam Vidyalam, Vavuniya, and Zithayakumar Kerthana of Gamini National School, Vavuniya. GGNA Gimhani of Sri Pragnarathne Central College, Gelioya, caused an upset in the Youth Girls category, defeating Punsara Thiththagala of Hemamali Girls College.

In the Junior Girls category, MDCS Mayadunne (50kg) of Prajapathi Girls College, Horana, controversially lost to TDI Madushani of Siri Perakum Vidyalaya, Kotagala. However, SMN Miloniya (46kg) and UB Sonali (48kg) were convincing winners for their school, Nuwara Eliya.

The event, organized by the Education Ministry and the Schools Boxing Association, saw nearly 500 boxers from 132 schools compete across 36 weight classes. St. Sylvester’s stood out from the beginning, with six finalists, two more than Royal College.

Source:Daily News