Malavi completes 25 years as Referee and Judge

BOXING: Priantha Malavi completed 25 years as a Referee/Coach in Boxing. He qualified in September 1982 to be the youngest to qualify as a Referee in Sri Lanka, and still happens to be the youngest to officiate as a Referee in Sri Lanka. At present he is the most senior active Referee/Judge in the country.

The youngest to qualify as a Judge in the country is Dian Gomes, the current President of the ABA who also qualified in 1982 and still happens to be the youngest Judge in Sri Lanka.

Malavi's first meet was when he officiated at the Royal College Inter-House Meet in 1983 and since has officiated at many Meets around the country always maintaining a high standard of skill and fair play. Unfortunately there were no FAAB examinations held in Sri Lanka during the 1980s and 1990s for Malavi to qualify as a FFFB or AIBA official.

He was Royal's Boxing Secretary in 1972 and was Technical Advisor from 1974 to 1994 during which period Royal won the Stubbs Shield on nine occasions, the L. V. Jayaweera Cup once, the T. B. Jayah Cup on six occasions, Francis Jayawardene Cup once and the Phelps Trophy on four occasion.

Many were the Royalists who won the Best Boxer and Best Loser trophies during this period. He is a founder and Life Member of the Royal Boxing Club and has been its Treasurer for the past 20 years. He is also a member and Auditor of the Boxing Referees and Judges Association of Sri Lanka (BRJASL) and Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Coaches Association (SLABCA).

Malavi came under the tutelage of the late Danton Obeysekera and Ponnambalam Rajendram at Royal College and was helped on the road to Refereeing and Judging by the late Thomas de Silva and late Dharmasiri Weerakoon and also K. V. Dharmadasa, Per Sonnerby, Mr and Mrs Embuldeniya and especially Donald Munasinghe.

He also functioned as a Ringside Announcer at the Sri Lanka vs Philippines and Sri Lanka vs Vietnam Dual Meets and the South Asian Games in 2006 and as a TV commentator at the Sri Lanka vs Tanzania Duel meet. He has also participated in Cricket, Hockey, Basketball and Athletics and is presently the Administrative Manager of PriceWater HouseCoopers.

LG