Defending champions St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy, showcased a commanding performance, effectively ending Royal College, Colombo’s title aspirations at the 105th Stubbs Shield Inter-School Boxing Championship at the Royal MAS Arena.
The 105th Stubbs Shield Inter-School Boxing Championship, organized as part of the All Island National School Games by the Education Ministry and the Schools Boxing Association, brought together nearly 500 boxers from 132 schools competing across 36 weight classes and three age divisions.
In intense semi-final matchups, St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy, gained the upper hand over Royal College, Colombo, with six boxers advancing to the finals, while Royal sent four. This puts St. Sylvester’s in a strong position to claim their 18th Stubbs Shield title and fourth consecutive victory.
A major highlight was Sylvestrian KGSK Heshan’s electrifying first-round knockout of Royalist Devnaka Jayasooriya in the Senior Boy 60kg division, thrilling the crowd. Royal responded with a victory by junior international Malith Bandara, who used strategic footwork and counter-punching to overcome Sylvestrian TMCL Thennakoon’s aggressive style in the Senior Boy 75kg category.
Sylvestrian SPP Angelo (Senior Boy 52kg), recently named Best Boxer at the Novices meet, secured a tough win over Nalanda College’s GKS Hasindu. Further bolstering St. Sylvester’s progress were TMRL Thennakoon (Youth Boy 56kg) and SGM Azhar (Youth Boy 69kg), with gold medallist Heshan Jayasinghe (Senior Boy 69kg) delivering a confident win.
Royal’s captain, youth international Thenuwan Meegalle, led with an impressive showing, and vice-captain Ahsan Ahmed narrowly triumphed with a 3-2 split decision over Vidushan Hettiarachchi of DS Senanayake College in the Youth Boy 52kg division. Sahan Perera kept Royal’s momentum, defeating YN Bulathgama of Ananda College in the heavyweight Senior Boy 81kg class.
Other standout competitors included DNB Dulnada (Junior Boy 46kg) and WAJ Dhananjaya (Junior Boy 48kg) from Vidyatharana University College, KAVS Karavita (Junior Boy 54kg) of Mahanama College, Colombo, and Zahira College’s Aazil Murajudeen (Youth Boy 60kg). S. Thomas’ College’s Anuk de Silva (Senior Boy 52kg), Ronal Weerasekera (Senior Boy 52kg), and UGMR Keerthisinghe (Senior Boy 75kg) from Wattegama Central also showcased their skills.
In the Youth Girls division, Kalani Herath of Gateway College (54kg) faced an upset by GGNA Gimhani of Sri Pragnaratne Central College. Hemamali Balika Vidyalaya’s Punsara Thiththagalla (Youth Girl 54kg) and Chathu Siriwardena (Senior Girl 48kg) dominated, while L. Kagenthini (Senior Girl 54kg) of Poonthondam Vidyalaya, Vavuniya, from the Northern Province, gave an outstanding performance.
With the finals approaching, St. Sylvester’s College aims to retain their title, setting the stage for an exciting conclusion to this year’s Stubbs Shield Championship.
