Bandara elected as Sri Lanka’s new boxing president

Anuruddha Shanaka Bandara, a former schools boxing champion, was elected as the new President of the Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) at the annual general meeting held on May 21.

Bandara received 10 votes while his rival Wasantha Kumara got five votes to be duly elected as President of BASL for the next four years at the election of office-bearers held under the supervision of the three-member Election Committee chaired by Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya (rtd) appointed by the Ministry of Sports.

Bandara, 40, who serves as the Honorary Consul General of Sri Lanka in Guinea, is a product of Medirigiriya Central College and Royal College, Polonnaruwa, winning on his ring debut at the LV Jayaweera inter-school boxing meet. He distinguished as a boxing coach in Guinea.

“I wish to invite all those who love boxing to join hands with us. I have a good team to develop boxing in Sri Lanka in the future. We want to form a national boxing pool. We have many plans to promote boxing in the country. We can’t do this alone. We want the support of all boxing lovers. We want to correct any mistakes made in the past and work with everyone in the future to bring glory to Sri Lanka,” stated Bandara.

Former Sri Lanka boxing captain and South Asian Games medallist DIG Saman Gunaratna edged out another veteran administrator Lt Col Hemantha Weerasinghe (rtd) for the key position of secretary in the first BASL election held in more than two decades.

“We came together as a team in this election because we want to do something for the future of our children. We hope to form a national boxing pool and a kind of academy to create a pathway for boxers at school level to excel at international level. We hope to nurture young talent and bring back the glory of boxing with the help of the Tri-Services,” stated Gunaratna.

Following are the new office-bearers of BASL:

President:

Anuruddha Shanaka Bandara

Vice Presidents:

Eric Perera, Commander Udaya Kumaratunga

Secretary:

DIG Saman Gunaratna

Asst Secretary: Brig. Kasun Adhikari

Treasurer:

Amila Randika Dissanayaka

Asst Treasurer:

Vanoj Dharshana Premachandra