Udeni Kiridena third Olympic Boxing Referee

It is only after the lapse of 20 years that our 3rd Olympic Boxing Referee had surfaced.

Udeni Kiridena, a former Trinity College, Kandy- Boxing captain and Trinity Lion, had the distinction of officiating as a Referee & Judge at the Rio Olympic Games held last August. Out of the total number of 273 boxing bouts held during the span of 10 days, he was picked to officiate at 85 bouts. Out of them he had refereed in 6 and judged in 79.

His performances had been so splendid; he was selected to officiate daily on both sessions held. Out of the 13 final bouts, 10 male & 3 females, he had judged at all 3 women bouts and one men's bout. This certainly kept Sri Lankan reputation high and flying, bringing immense credit to the country.

Prior to being selected for Olympic Games, he had officiated at the World Championships, Olympic selection trials, Youth Olympic Games, Junior World Championships, European Olympic Trials and Women's world Junior and youth Championships. In 2015 he has become the 1st Sri Lankan to referee/judge at AIBA pro- Boxing meets. He was the president of the ABA of Sri Lanka during the 2009-2010 period.

Udeni qualified as a National Referee/Judge in 1993 April, after receiving intensive training under the "Guru" Donal Munasinghe who had trained almost all the functioning officials of today. In 2001 he received further guidance from 2 International Judges, Herbert & Neiva Embuldeniya couple and became a continental Referee/ Judge in 2002. In 2006 he became an International Judge and International Referee in 2008. He became a 3-star International Referee/ Judge in 2010. In 2014 he qualified at the AIBA Pro-Boxing & World series Boxing examination.

Our first Olympic official was former Royalist and Cambridge University Blue Danton Obeysekera. He officiated as a Referee/ Judge in 1948 at London, in 1952 at Helsinki, in 1956 at Melbourne. He also functioned as a Juror in 1960 at Rome. Mr E I Gray, who boxed at London Olympics in 1948, officiated as a Referee-Judge at Olympics Trials held in 1960 at Australia, but was not fortunate to be selected for 1960 Rome Olympics. Later he became the Hony. Secretary & President of ABA.

Our second Olympics official was Dharmasiri Weerakoon, a former boxer in Rome Olympics in 1960. He officiated as a Referee- Judge in 1988 at Seoul, in 1992 at Barcelona and in 1996 at Atlanta.

He became an overnight hero at the finals in Seoul in 98 when he sprang on to the ring to save the European Referee being assaulted by the furiating Korean Coach after the Korean boxer lost as a result of a controversial decision. He too became the Hony Secretary and President of the ABA.

DM