Sylvestrians make their punch count
The achievement of the St. Sylvester's College boxers in winning the 2018 Stubbs Shield is not an isolated one. It was the 14th occasion on which they have triumphed – a statistic they have to share with Royal College, who were this year's runners-up (in tandem with Dheerananda MV)
The hey-day of Sylvestrian Boxing was in the 1980s, and for good reasons. That was a period that witnessed the exploits of the Bulner Brothers - the eldest being the iconic Malcolm, who was followed by Michael, Noel and Christopher.
A few lines about Malcolm Bulner wouldn't be out of place. The only schoolboy national champion, he was unbeaten in Sri Lanka and represented the country at the Commonwealth Games of 1962 and the Olympic Games of 1964. He lost to the winner of the gold medal at the Olympics.
Migrating to Australia, he continued with the sport and soon became the National Champion of Australia. He was selected for the Olympics by Australia and the application was referred to the country of his origin. Sadly, Ceylon did not grant him permission. He became a professional and won a few bouts. He had the honour of refereeing a World Title bout.
To put the record straight, Malcolm lost to his schoolmate P. Edmond in an Inter-House Meet!
Following on the heels of the Bulners, came Nimal Lewke. A Stubbs Shield winner, he boxed for the country in the Bantamweight Class at the Kings Cup in Thailand in 1975. The Gunasinghe brothers – Derek and G.A.S. – A.C.R. Herathge, T.S. Hassan, who captained the Sri Lanka Schools, Mohamed Riyal, D.C. Weerasinghe and Danton Cooray were the leading lights in the seventies.
Another generation took over in the 1980s and 1990s and two-families stand out – the Gunaratne Brothers – Nihal, Arith and Upul, followed in the next decade by the brothers Pallekumbura – Janaka, Jagath, Jaliya and Jayanatha.
Coming to this year's successful Boxing squad, it was led by Sameera Kapukotuwa (52kg) and included brother Buddika (75kg), Deneth Jayasinghe (49kg), Udara Ratnayake (60kg), Vishvakeerthi Thenabandu (64kg), Kaveesha Manatunga (57kg), Wickramasinghe (64kg, senior) and Achintha Kularathne.
The winning team was coached by Danistar Paris, who was put in-charge of the squad just four months prior to the meet. Bandula Gamage had functioned as the Technical Advisor prior to that. Paris is no spring-chicken. His credentials are very impressive – Best Boxer at the 1993 Stubbs Shield and Best Boxer at the 1999 Nationals.
For good measure, he took part in the Olympic Trials held in South Korea in 2000. Entering the quarter-finals of the 2nd World Military Games in Croatia was also grist to his mill.
The last Sylvestrian triumph (prior to 2018) came in 2008, when the team coached by K.C. Sisira Kumara carried away the Stubbs Shield. From the point of view of the boxers, they were dedicated and subjected to hard-training. By and large, the needs of the boxers were met by the Old Boys Associations of Kandy and Colombo.
Sylvestrian boxing is poised to take off once more. Much more will definitely be heard of them in the immediate future. The Sylvestrians had three gold medal winners in Buddika Kapukotuwa, Achintha Kularatne and Vishvakeerthi Thenabadu. Kaveesha Manatunga came up with a silver medal.