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| Sunday, 14 September 2003 |
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Seevali MMV wins Stubbs Shield with hard training in new ring from Caltex by A. C. DE SILVA Seevali Madya Maha Vidyalaya, Ratnapura is the talk of the town as far as boxing is concerned right now. The little spoken of boxers from the gem city covered themselves with glory when they won the plum of inter-school boxing - the Stubbs Shield for the fifth time when the 85th edition of the meet was concluded last Monday at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium. Seevali MMV had a close call getting 33 points to Royal's 31 while Vidyartha got 14 in coming third. The earlier wins in this prestigious meet by Seevali MMV came four years in-a-row from 1997 to 2000 and last week's victory over the top-notch schools made the Ratnapura school the talk of all knowledgeable boxers. The Ratnapura's earlier wins were when they didn't even have the luxury of possessing a boxing ring of their own with the boxers being called on to bowl on cemented floor of a class room with punch bags hanging from the roof. However, the plight of Seevali MMV boxers was spotted by Caltex Lubricants box Kishu Gomes who donated a ring for the school. It was on August 6th - that's just over a month ago that a ring came into the school compound by way of the magnanimous gesture of Caltex and the Seevali MMV boxers didn't disappoint Caltex boss Kishu Gomes and his company's big wigs as the school picked up courage to win the Stubbs Shield again this year. Each school was permitted eight boxers at the meet and Seevali MMV has five gold medal winners in B. A. J. M. Muni Perera in Pinweight 'A' 34 to 36 Kgs in the age group 13 to 14 years, Bantamweight 39 to 41 kgs 14 to 15 years had M. M. R. Ratnapala winning the gold as did W. J. Surendra in the Featherweight 41 to 43 kgs weight class for 14 to 15-year-olds, while in the Pinweight 42 to 45 kgs class P. P. R. S. Patabendi also won gold (he represented Sri Lanka at the South Asian Junior Meet in 2001). The fifth gold was by K. G. Senanayake in the 57 to 60 kgs category for 17 to 20 years age group. The Silver Medal came through P. M. Wickremasinghe in the Light Welterweight category 44 to 46 kgs in the 15 to 16 years age group, while the Bronze Medal was won by M. C. A. Mallalagama in the Welterweight 46 to 48 kgs category and 15 to 16 years age group. Seevali MMV boxers have done the school proud by winning this prestigious boxing meet for the school to keep the flag flying high and the school authorities headed by the sports-minded Principal D. M. Gunaratne, and staff has organised a fitting reception today for the boxers at Belihuloya Rest House off Balangoda. Boxing is all art and craft and there has to be someone with thorough knowledge of the sport to guide a school team. In 25-year-old Wasantha Kumara, the school found an ideal coach to train the boys and he has done well with the boxers at hand. Though presently working as a Management Trainee at Unichela, Wasantha Kumara, though not an old boy of Seevali MMV (he is from Joseph Vaz Wennappuwa), devotes much time with the Seevali MMV boxers and his close association with the boxers has brought out the best and the boys are keen and eager to learn the finer points of the sport. Coach happy Wasantha Kumara is very happy indeed with the performance of his 'charges' at the Stubbs Shield Meet and he leaves tomorrow for Hungary to the Sommelweis University Institute of Teaching and Sports Education in Budapest to get more training in boxing so that when he returns Seevali MMV will have the opportunity of first-hand knowledge from his experience of being coached by foreign experts. His progress in coaching the Seevali boxers had been closely followed by the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka and this near four-month scholarship has been awarded by the International Olympic Committee. Speaking at an earlier function, Seevali MMV's Principal D. M. Gunaratne said that his school has been associated with boxing for about 9 years but with inadequate or no facilities at all and the entry of Caltex Lubricants to the scene with their sponsorship turned out to be a godsend. The Principal seemed to be thrilled with the general gift of the boxing ring by Caltex Lubricants. He said that no one will be able to tell for how many years the ring will be used, but assured one and all that it will be put to good use by his boxers. And true to Principal D. M. Gunaratne's words, Seevali MMV has produced results again with the Stubbs Shield victory a week back. The school should be able to go places and established their name in the top rung of inter-school boxing. They started boxing at the school only in 1994, but in the short space of nine years, the school has done well and more success is bound to come their way with dedicated training and with a keen set of students, they are bound to achieve their ambition. Principal thrilled Principal of Seevali MMV Mr. D. M. Gunaratne, who has been the guiding light for the resurgence of sports activities for some years now was thrilled with the performance of his school's boxers at the Stubbs Shield Meet held in Colombo. "It was a great win," he said considering the fact that one of their opponents were the Royalists who have been a strong force and with plenty of resources at their disposal. "We had a string of victories in the Stubbs Shield from 1997 to 2000 a short gap after that and a week ago our boxers came back strongly to win five of the eight bouts and helped the school to come on top," added Principal Gunaratne. It's confirmed that the school authorities will take the boxers out to Belihuloya today on a relaxation trip so that the boxers will feel that the authorities at school recognise the hard work put in by them and this in turn probably will bring in more tangible results in the future. Principal Gunaratne said that he was pleased with the way that the school boxing coach Wasantha Kumara has handled the team and the fact that Wasantha Kumara is going abroad on a scholarship to gain more knowledge in boxing will mean a lot to them. "When Wasantha Kumara comes back he would have mastered the latest techniques and he will be able to impart that knowledge to the boys," he said. "We at Caltex are hapy to see early results of a long term investment made on behalf of a poor but talented team of people, paying off", said Kishu Gomes - Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Caltex Lubricants. This gives a strong message to all stakeholders of sports, in this country that Sri Lankan talent is more in villages than in Colombo. Hence, any sponsor who wants to genuinely support sports should focus on helping rural areas for the standards of sports in Sri Lanka to be elevated. The Ratnapura boys have shown that it is the commitment, hard work and dedication that matters in achieving results, not money, facilities and background, which most people in this country are crying for before they become committed. "The media sports extended to Ratnapura Seevali has been examplary, which provided the right level of motivation and created the desire to win in the minds of these village boys". "The excellence achieved by Ratnapura Seevali by emerging victorious at the highest level, with our support, will further encourage our organization to look at sponsorship commitments from a different perspective, thus invest in areas that can bring the level of sports in this country to international levels", added Kishu Gomes. |
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