Sri Lanka’s Manju Wanniarachchi on Wednesday won Commonwealth Games gold in the bantamweight division for Sri Lanka’s first boxing title in 72 years.
The 30-year-old from Kandy won a points decision 16-14 to beat Welsh teenager Sean McGoldrick over three rounds in a closely contested bout in which the scores were tied 7-7.
Barney Hennricus won Sri Lanka’s only boxing gold medal at the 1938 Empire Games in Sydney.
The first round was scored even 3-3 while Wanniarachchi who hails from the central hill capital of Kandy trailed 5-6 after the second round.
Wanniarachchi nosed ahead of the 18-year-old from Newport 7-6 during the third round but the Welshman leveled with about 20 seconds remaining.
The Sri Lankan was declared the winner on a countback of the scores.
Sri Lankan boxers won two silver and a bronze medal at the next edition of the Games in Auckland in 1950.
Bronze medallists were the beaten semifinalists Tirafalo Seoko of Botswana and Louis Julie of Mauritius.
Northern Ireland’s Paddy Barnes won gold in the light flyweight division.
Barnes - the British province’s first European champion in 19 years - beat defending champion Jafet Uutoni from Namibia 8-4 on points.
Bronze went to losing semifinalists Muhammad Waseem of Pakistan and India’s Amandeep Singh.
In the picture above, the Sri Lankan boxer points to a higher power when the judges announce their decision before soaking in the adulation from his compatriots in the stands. 