The Ring Is A Women’s World

By T M K Samat

IT’s a clear sign of the advancement made by the women boxers and a decline among the men:
Sri Lanka’s chances of Olympic 2012 qualification reside more with its women boxers than the men, whose first round eliminations in the Asian Championship followed by the World Championship two months ago virtually shuts the Games door on them.
So the Clifford Cup championships, beginning Wednesday at the Linea Arena in Pallakalle, will have little Olympic relevance for the men, but is hugely significant for the women, especially Nilmini Jayasinghe and Anusha Kodituwakku,  two of the country’s most experienced international boxers.
The pair has already booked their place for the Asian Women’s Championship, in Mongolia next March, the forerunner to the World Championship in May in China, which is the solitary qualifier for the London Games. “On paper Nilmini (Jayasinghe) and Anusha (Kodituwakku) have to be considered as certainties for the Olympic qualifiers, but I am sure they know what might happen between cup and lip,’’ said Mahesh Dahanayake, ABA Secretary.
“The Clifford Cup has been designated the first of two trials  for selection for the World Championship (the Olympic qualifier) and both know they can’t have a bad night in this week’s competition because defeat would mean an erosion of their dreams of fighting in London.’’ The second and final selection trial for the World Championship will be Nationals in February.
Both boxers have achieved some noteworthy feats in the international ring. Kodituwakku, a product of Narangoda MV, was Asian champion in 2006, just three years after first getting her fists into gloves. She also defeated her opponents in international duals with Vietnam and Russia, and finished fifth in last year’s World Championships in Barbados.
Jayasinghe, a product of Sandalanka National College near Pannala, produced an outstanding performance in the 2009 International Invitation Championship in Russia where she beat off a worldwide challenge to win gold. She is ranked 18th in the world.
Both boxers are pioneers of women’s boxing, introduced here in 2003. “They began boxing in their 20s, and to outshine foreign boxers who have been in the sport from their teens is remarkable. Their success is a reflection of the rapid progress women’s boxing here has made,’’ said Dahanayake. “Obviously, there’ll be more Anushas and Niliminis among the many women boxers that have joined the sport, especially from the services. So, the two will have to watch out for the pretenders.’’
While the women boxers chase Olympic dreams in Pallakalle, the men’s boxers pursue lesser goals. Technically, performances in the Clifford Cup are to be taken into reckoning for selections to AIBA’s Asian Olympic qualifier for men, in February in Kazakhstan. But after out three-man team’s first round elimination in the Asian Championship in September, it wouldn’t be surprising if the ABA choose to opt out of the AIBA Feb event in Kazakhstan, the final Olympic qualifier.
That, however, doesn’t mean the men boxers have nothing to fight for this week.  The ABA is relentless in its search for new champions to replace the likes of Wanniarachchi, Sameera and Rathnayake – and is to use the Clifford Cup meet as a trial for selection a 10-man team for the Benazir Bhutto International Meet to be held in Islamabad, Dec. 20-30.