Sri Lanka’s participation at the inaugural ASBC Asian Schoolboys Boxing Championship in Kuwait is the first step in the BASL’s long-term objective of reaping success in the Paris Games.Six Sri Lankan boxers took part in this ASBC Asian Schoolboys Boxing Championships selected from last year’s events and the final national trials. The performance, shown by some of the Sri Lankan boxers, were remarkable in spite of the fact these young talents started their boxing career less than two years ago.

“Our boxing standard was on par with the others in the competition. Some of the bouts were lost narrowly and could have gone either way. The only difference I felt was they lacked preparation,” said Weerasinghe, an outstanding product of St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy who has won major competitions such as Layton Cup as a schoolboy.

“In other countries there are centres where they can train boxing while studying. Even if they change schools there is no problem. In Sri Lanka, parents don’t like to send their children for pool training because their focus is education. We tried our best to provide training in one place but most of them preferred to train individually with their coaches,” said Weerasinghe, a former secretary of the BASL.

“To change this concept we have to send them abroad for training before a tournament. Then we can prepare them for two or three weeks. That is the best method to improve their standard,” said Weerasinghe, who represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Championships and South Asian Federation Games. One of Sri Lanka’s key boxing officials for the past decade, Weerasinghe wields influence in the ASBC (Asian Boxing Confederation) being secretary of its Referee and Judges Commission for the past four years.

He lauded the ASBC’s initiative to conduct international boxing tournaments for schoolboys.