Pushpakumari takes bronze, becomes first Sri Lankan in 9 years to win medal at Asian Boxing Championships

Sri Lanka was represented by four men and three women at the ASBC Asian Elite Men and Women Boxing Championship held in Dubai, UAE. Nadeeka Pushpakumari won a bronze medal in the women’s fly weight (51kg) category, bringing pride and joy to the country.

The Asia Women’s Boxing Championships was inaugurated in 2001, and since 2019 it has been amalgamated with the Asian Men’s Championships. So far Sri Lankan women boxers have won seven bronze medals at these championships. The last was won by Shiromalie Weeraratne at the 2012 Asian Championship held in Mongolia, fighting in the light welterweight category. Pushpakumari faced a tough loss to two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan in the semifinals. Kyzaibay went on to win the championship, defeating six-time world champion Mary Kom of India in the final. Pushpakumari also won a bronze medal at the South Asian Games held in Nepal in 2019. 

In the men’s Division in the Flyweight 52 kg quarterfinals, South Asian silver medallist KVL Eranda had a very close bout with Saken Bibossynov of Kazakhstan, the bronze medallist of AIBA World Boxing Championships. The Kazak boxer went on to win the bronze medal.  

Rukmal Prasanna fought in the Bantam weight 56 kg quarter finals. He also had a close fight with a young but very experienced Junmilardo Ogayre of Philippines, who went on to win the medal in this weight category. Rasmika Illangaratha had a hard bout in the quarter finals with Gulasal Sultonalieva of Uzbekistan, who went on to win silver in this weight category.  

Boxing Association President Dian Gomes said that he has highly impressed by the fights of Kavinda and Sanjeewa, who had barely got an opportunity to train in the pool. 

Kazakhstan led the women’s medal tally in the championships winning eight gold medals, while Uzbekistan and India won one gold each. In the men’s division, Uzbekistan grabbed six gold medals out of 10 weight categories. Mongolia clutched three golds while India won one gold medal at the tournament. The tournament saw the participation of 20 strong countries together with 187 boxers. 

According to the officials from the Boxing Association, the Sri Lanka team is expected to return home today.