The 6th Edition of the Asian Women’s Boxing Championships was held during March 15th to 25th in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as a prelude to the World Championships in May to be held in China and the upcoming London Olympics in August this year. 84 Boxers from seventeen countries including China, India, Korea, Mongolia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Kasakhstan, Philippines, Vietnam, Japan and Sri Lanka participated in this tournament.

Sri Lanka’s contingent consisted of 6 Boxers and 2 Coaches. Shiromali Weerarathna created history for her club, the Sri Lanka Police when she beat Thailand’s National Champion, 19 points to 14 in the under 69kg weight category in the Quarter Finals to win a bronze medal. She is the first female in the Sri Lanka Police to win a medal in Boxing at an International level since the inception of women’s boxing in Sri Lanka in 2001. Shiromali, the Sri Lanka National Champion 2011 is coached by former National Boxing Champion Inspector W.P. Mendis who is also the head coach of Sri Lanka Police Boxing.

Anusha Kodituwakku, fighting in her new weight category of 51kg could not reach her potential after suffering from a knee injury during training which impacted her game. Though she led during the first two rounds by 6 points, she lost the next two rounds to her Vietnam opponent 27 to 18 points, whom she beat during the World Championships in 2010 held in Barbados.

Nilmini Jayasinghe in the under 60kg and Vidhushika Prabadhi in the under 54kg weight category lost to their opponents from Mongolia and India respectively in the preliminary rounds.