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29 March 2024

Sri Lankan boxer carries hopes of a nation

Manju Wanniarachchi of Sri Lanka, in blue, fights Tirafalo Seoko of Botswana in the semi-final of the Bantam 56 kg semi-finals during the Commonwealth Games at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, India. (AP)

Published
By Allaam Ousman

Manju Wanniarachchi may have already earned his place in Sri Lanka’s boxing hall of fame but is determined to carve his name in gold by winning the Commonwealth Games bantamweight final against Sean McGoldrick of Wales in New Delhi on Wednesday.

“I’m confident of winning the gold medal and bring glory to the country,” said the 30-year-old pugilist who is on the threshold of creating history by becoming only the second Sri Lankan to capture a boxing gold medal at these Games.

The first ever medal for the island nation at these Games was attained more than a generation before him by Barney Henricus who won the featherweight title at the Empire Games in Sydney in 1938. In the next edition of the Games held in Auckland in 1950, two Sri Lankan boxers K Edwin and Albert Perera won silver medals while Alex Obeyesekere bagged a bronze.

He joined these Sri Lankan boxing greats and carries the weight of expectation on his slender but strong shoulders after having assured the country of its first boxing medal in 60 years at the Games when he won the bantamweight quarter-final against Kenya’s Nicholas Okoth.

The magnitude of his feat was not lost on Wanniarachchi who has carried all before since donning gloves at a tender age under the watchful eyes of his school coach L.A. Amunugama.

“I worked hard for a really long period and this time I did not come here to lose. With the help of my coach Harsha Kumara, the Cuban coach and team manager Dian Gomes, I have come a long way and I will never turn back now. I have studied my opponent and am confident of winning the gold,” said Wanniarachchi who has been described as a pocket dynamo by analysts.

A technically correct boxer who unravels the best of defences with his speed and power combinations particularly his lethal straight right while moving stealthily displaying superb ringcraft, Wanniarachchi has never been founding in courage and always relishes a challenge.

“I don’t feel any pressure for the final. In fact, my confidence is high after my victories and I’m determined to win the highest honour for my country,” he said.

Wanniarachchi has silenced local critics who considered him to be past his peak while Sri Lanka’s former boxing chief Dian Gomes has been vindicated for investing in talents like him during the past decade.

“I have always had faith that Sri Lanka boxers would do well. He has been unlucky in a few tournaments. But he was determined to go for gold,” Gomes told Emirates 24|7 speaking from New Delhi on Monday.

When asked about the reaction to Wanniarachchi’s entry into the final back home, Gomes said they were already in great celebration. “Everyone in Sri Lanka was watching. Heard they are going to show a repeat telecast because it is the first boxing medal in 60 years,” he said.

“Manju landed some terrific right uppercuts and straight rights and floored him, forcing the referee to stop the bout,” he said describing his semifinal bout which ended 48 seconds into the second round.

Wanniarachchi’s exploits did not come as a surprise for Gomes who has provided employment to a host of talented Sri Lankan boxers to train like professionals under Cuban coaches. “Manju has been competing around the world since 1999. He won a silver at the King’s Cup in Bangkok earlier. I never lost faith in him and others like Anuruddha Ratnayake and Kamal Sameera,” he said.

Ratnayake achieved Sri Lanka’s dream to send a boxer to the Olympics after 40 years when he qualified for the Beijing Games in 2008.

“It’s a great opportunity for Sri Lanka to win a boxing gold medal. Manju is on top of the world. He won three good fights,” he said.

With the Olympic bronze medallist from India Akhil Kumar having lost in the quarter-finals, Wanniarachchi will carry not only the country’s hopes but Asia’s as well.

“The Wales boxer is also of same height. He is not a tall opponent so Manju stands a good chance,” said Gomes, a former Sri Lankan junior national champion.

“It would be great if Manju could win gold because Sri Lanka has won only one silver and one bronze medal at the Games,” added Gomes, who is also a vice-president of the National Olympic Committee.

Gomes also savours a personal triumph at this edition of the Commonwealth Games with his daughter Elisha, 17, being placed sixth in the synchronized swimming event. This is in addition to her seventh place at the Asian Games in 2006.

“It will be matter of pride if we can win at least a gold in this games. There’s no Susanthika (Jayasinghe) anymore in the track and fields. So it will be another 50 years when one can be born like that,” said a Sri Lankan expatriate in UAE Deepal Rajaguru praying for Wanniarachchi’s success.

"This is great and I am confident that he can go for the gold. Now I do not regret losing to him on two occasions," Renuka Perera, a former boxing rival of Wanniarachchi during his school days, said.

The fight is expected to be at 3.00pm India time (approximately 1.30pm UAE time).