Sri Lanka Army’s H. P. L. Jayantha Kumara reckons his team’s victory at the Layton Cup above his personal achievement in an interview with the ‘Sportstar’.

Kumara beat C. P. Abeyrathne of Slimline by 35 points to 16 in the final of the Fly Weight Under-51 Kgs category to become the Best Boxer and his team won the Sir Jeffery Layton Cup at the 66th edition of the ABA Layton Cup Boxing Meet conducted at the Sugathadasa Stadium last week.

"As the captain of the Army team, I am happy that our team could win the Layton Cup. We were expecting it to be a tough meet. We expected a strong challenge from Silmline. But it was not to be. We won seven gold medals out of ten events, so obviously it was a rather easy outing for the Army boxers," said Kumara.

"This is the second time I have placed my hands on the Layton Cup. The first time was in 2004. I joined Army SC in 1999. S. Ranasinghe invited me to join the Army. And from then I continued my training under Sumith Prasanna," said Kumara, giving a brief introduction to his career in the Army.

"I was named the Best Boxer at the National Boxing Meet in 2006 and was also the Best Boxer at the National Sports Festival in year 2003," said Kumara with a sense of pride.

Meanwhile, in the Women’s Championship B. L. S. Sadareka of MAS Southern defeated B. M. P. Dassanayake of Ghandara in the Light Weight Under-60 Kgs final to became the Best Boxer.

D. R. Wijerathne of Sintesi BC was won the Best Loser award in the men’s category while W. A. S. Shanthika was adjudged the Best Loser in the women’s category.

AAK Nilmini (Slimline) beat WSVM Nishadi (MAS Southern) RSC O/C

JANK Jayasinghe (Slimline) beat HPE Asokamali (Silueta) RSC O/C

Light Bantam Weight Under-52 Kgs

SAN Weerarathne (Slimline) beat MRP Krishanthi (Silueta) WP 28/14

SDNS Karunarathna (Army) beat MD Ekanayake (MAS Southern) RSC O/C

MMM Susanthi (Army) beat WAS Shanthika (Police) WP 28/14

Light Weight Under-60 Kgs

BLS Sandareka (MAS Southern) beat BMP Dassanayake (Ghandara) KOH

TMC Thennakoon (Army) beat SAM Chandrasekara (Army) RSC Unfit

HPL Jayantha Kumara (Army) beat CP Abeyrathne (Slimline) WP 16/35

DM Samaranayake (Slimline) beat DR Wijerathne (Sintesi) WP 25/21

AKGK Sameera (Slimline) beat ORB Samaranayake (Army) RSC O/S

SHWM Karunarathna (Army) beat RMSA Rathnayake (Army) WP 10/18

AGN Bandara (Army) beat WMR Wekadapola (Slimline) WP 16/26

PMR Pushpa Kumara (Army) beat KG Jeewantha (Army) WP 17/18

RT Jayathilake (Slimline) beat KMP Kumara (Army) RSC O/S

AHSS Athukorala (Army) beat SHR Kumara (Army) RSC O/C

RBSC Rathmalgoda (Navy) beat HMRC Herath (Army) WP 24/41