Sri Lankan boxer Niraj Wijewardena ended his campaign by winning a bronze medal at the 13th Taipei City Cup International Boxing Meet after his campaign ended in the semi final bout losing finally on points to the Taiwanese boxer Huang Guan-Qun after it went the full distance.
Sadly for the Sri Lankan boxer, his sustained injury to his left hand (wrist and below) in his earlier remarkable win against his Taipei opponent, prevented him from throwing his usual powerful left punches and hooks in the semifinal.
Nevertheless, the Sri Lankan pugilist from Kandy can stand tall as he achieved three goals that he set for himself prior to embarking on this tour.
Firstly, to win a medal, secondly to achieve that much needed invaluable international experience and exposure and thirdly to prove his critics wrong.
However, he seems to have achieved much more with the interest that he created both locally and amongst the international boxing communities during these two fights.
Special mention must be made of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) for stepping forward to fully fund and support this boxer Niraj Wijewardena to compete in this event. This is after the NOCSL commenced supporting boxers and officials under its Olympic Charter especially after the International Olympic Committee banned the International Boxing Association of which the Boxing Association of Sri Lanka is currently a member. When President of the NOCSL Suresh Subramaniam was contacted, said “It was a remarkable achievement by Niraj to win a bronze medal at this tournament. The NOCSL is there to provide support and serve players and officials related to sports and will always continue to do so. (D.R)
