Indika Bandara and Piyal Dharmasena won two bronze medals at the 23rd President Cup International Boxing Tournament held from 20th to 29th July 2019 at Labuan Bajo city in Indonesia. Indika Bandara a Navy Able Seaman and Piyal Dharmasena a lance corporal in the Army brought honors to Sri Lanka by winning the first boxing medals for Sri Lanka in this year at this prestigious boxing event. Both boxers have been selected as the strategy for building second level of National Elite boxers by Mr. Dian Gomes, the President of Boxing Association of Sri Lanka.
Piyal Dharmasena won the Bronze Medal in the Fly Weight category beating the Indonesian opponent during the quarter finals of the 23rd President Cup International Boxing Tournament. Piyal lost his chance to win a Silver Medal during the Semi Final Bout when he lost to the Indian boxer who subsequently won the gold medal in that weight category. Indika Bandara in the Light Fly weight semifinals lost to a strong and experienced Philippine Boxer who claimed the Silver Medal at the finals.
A total of 300 men and women boxers from 27 countries took part in the President Cup International Boxing Tournament 2019 and Indian team became the best team of the Championships after winning 7 Gold medals at the Finals.
Meanwhile, three National Champions of 2018 Nuwan Sanjeewa of 49Kg, Ishan Bandara of 52Kg and Sanjeewani Coorey of women 57Kg were defeated at their first bout in the Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament held from 18th to 28th July 2019 at Bangkok, Thailand. Nuwan Sanjeewa was beaten after a very close bout with Bhutan Boxer while Inshan Bandara was beaten by a Laos boxer. Women Boxer Sanjeewani Cooray was beaten by the gold medal winner of this weight category an India Boxer. All above Sri Lankan boxers will be taking part in the Layton Cup Boxing Meet 2019 scheduled to be held from 13th to 17th August 2019. The selected boxers will be pooled separately with the support of Ministry of Sports for South Asian Games 2019.
