For the first time in history, three Sri Lankan boxing officials have been elected to serve on the various commissions of the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC).
Hemantha Weerasinghe (referee and judge), Syamalee Prabuddhika Lokuyaddehige (women), and Dr. Tharanga Aruggoda (medical) were elected to serve on the respective ASBC Commissions from 2023 to 2027 during the board meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Syamalee becomes the first woman from Sri Lanka to serve in the ASBC Commission.
Weerasinghe, a vice president of the Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), has been a member of the ASBC R&J (Referee and Judge) Commission since 2015. He was twice appointed as Secretary of the ASBC R&J Commission from 2015-2018 and 2020-2023.
A two-time National Flyweight boxing champion, he represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Boxing Championships in addition to winning the selection tournament for the Commonwealth Games in 1984.
An accredited national referee since 2003, he qualified as an AIBA 1-Star referee in 2010 and officiated at the Asian Junior Boxing Championships in 2007 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Syamalee is a 2-Star IBA referee who has been the Chairperson of the BASL Women’s Commission since 2021. Winner of the Layton Cup and bronze medalist at the National Championship, she has a Black Belt and 1st Dan in karate. A national referee and judge since 2014, she has officiated at Les Ceintures Boxing Cup in Paris 2022, Eindhoven Boxing Cup in Eindhoven twice and the 23rd President’s Boxing Cup Indonesia 2019.
Dr. Aruggoda has served as Chairman of the BASL Medical Commission since 2018 and also Secretary of the Navy Boxing Disciplinary Committee. A graduate in Human Resource Management at IPM in 2016, he completed the Ringside Doctor and Team Cut Technician course of IBA in Budapest, Hungry.