St. Sylvester’s eyes 18th title after semi final win

Defending champions St. Sylvester’s College from Kandy delivered a series of powerful performances, knocking out Royal College, Colombo’s title hopes on the fifth day of the 105th Stubbs Shield Inter-School Boxing Championship at the Royal MAS Arena.

In the intense semi final bouts, St. Sylvester’s advanced six boxers to the finals, while Royal managed to secure four spots. This puts St. Sylvester’s on track for their 18th Stubbs Shield title and their fourth consecutive victory.

The highlight of the day came from Sylvestrian KGSK Heshan, who scored an explosive first-round knockout against Royalist Devnaka Jayasooriya in the Senior Boy 60kg category, thrilling the crowd. Royal responded with a win from junior international Malith Bandara, who used quick footwork and counter-punching to outmaneuver Sylvestrian TMCL Thennakoon in the Senior Boy 75kg class.

SPP Angelo from St. Sylvester’s, who was awarded Best Boxer at the Novices meet, fought hard to defeat Nalanda College’s GKS Hasindu. Teammates TMRL Tennakoon (Youth Boy 56kg) and SGM Azhar (Youth Boy 69kg) also contributed to St. Sylvester’s strong performance, with gold medalist Heshan Jayasinghe (Senior Boy 69kg) winning convincingly.

Royal captain and youth international Thenuwan Meegalle led his team with a commanding display. Vice captain Ahsan Ahmed secured a narrow 3-2 split decision over Vidushan Hettiarachchi from DS Senanayake College in the Youth Boy 52kg division. Sahan Perera kept Royal’s hopes alive by defeating YN Bulathgama of Ananda College in the heavyweight Senior Boy 81kg class.

Standout performances were also noted from DNB Dulnada (Junior Boy 46kg) and WAJ Dhananjaya (Junior Boy 48kg) of Vidyatharana University College, KAVS Karavita (Junior Boy 54kg) of Mahanama College, and Zahira College’s Aazil Murajudeen (Youth Boy 60kg). Additionally, Anuk de Silva (Senior Boy 52kg) of S. Thomas’ College, Ronal Weerasekera (Senior Boy 52kg), and UGMR Keerthisinghe (Senior Boy 75kg) from Wattegama Central showcased their skills.

In the Youth Girls division, Kalani Herath of Gateway College (54kg) faced an upset against GGNA Gimhani from Sri Pragnaratne Central College. Hemamali Balika Vidyalaya’s Punsara Thiththagalla (Youth Girl 54kg) and Chathu Siriwardena (Senior Girl 48kg) dominated their matches, while L. Kagenthini (Senior Girl 54kg) from Poonthondam Vidyalaya in Vavuniya impressed with her exceptional performance

 Source:Daily News