×

Online PaymentS

Will be available soon

Trinity College Kandy - Respice Finem

Trinity College Kandy - Respice Finem

Trinity College, Kandy Respice Finem

T +94 81 223 4297
Email: info@trinitycollege.lk

Trinity College, Kandy
262, D S Senanayake Veediya, Kandy 20000, Central Province, Sri Lanka

Open in Google Maps
CALL: +94 81 223 4297
  • ONLINE PAYMENTS
  • Home
  • About Trinity
    • Principal
    • Chapel
      • Choir
    • School Officers’ Guild
    • Societies and Clubs
    • Sports
    • Ryde Gold Medal
    • The College Hymn
    • The College Song
  • Sections
    • Kindergarten
    • Junior School
    • Local Advance Level
    • International Advanced Level
  • Office 365
    • Office 365 Portal
      • Microsoft Teams on Web
      • Office Applications
        • Microsoft Word
        • Microsoft Excel
        • Microsoft PowerPoint
      • Outlook on Web
      • OneNote on Web
      • OneDrive on Web
      • Microsoft SharePoint
      • Microsoft Planner
      • Microsoft Sway
      • Microsoft Yammer
    • Learning at Home
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Support Tutorials
      • College Email Accounts
      • Microsoft Teams
  • News
    • The TrinitianNew
    • News & Articles
      • College News
      • General Articles
      • Published Advertisements
    • Careers
  • Events
  • Trinity 150
    • T150 College Celebrations
      • MemorabiliaNew
    • Trinity History Project
    • Trinity150 Infrastructure Projects
  • Gallery
  • Contact Us
T150
College
Celebrations
Website Editor
Thursday, 10 March 2022 / Published in Boxing, College, General Articles, History, Sports

When Trinity Boxing went to Olympics – the Story of Leslie Handunge

An article by Chaniru Senhas (Grade 8)

Boxing at Trinity

Boxing has traditionally been one of Trinity’s most exciting sports, both among alumni and students. The beginnings of Boxing dates to 1907 when only younger students were allowed to be a part of the sport. Since 1913, Boxing became a main-stream sport in college and many inter-house tournaments were held. Consequently, in 1914 Trinity won its first battle for the Stubbs Shield.

Trinity boxing became defunct in 1962, but, it sprang back to life in 1975 with the trainers being Bobby Jayaweera, S. B. Kiridena, Leslie Handunge and Sarath Jayasinghe and culminated with winning the Stubbs in 1983. Sadly, the second death-knell was dealt to Trinity boxing in 1984 and was again revived in 2005 and continues to this day.

Joe Louis of Ceylon

Leslie Handunge

Leslie Donovan Perera Handunge, better known as Leslie Handunge, who has been a colleague of Duncan White, was the only Olympic boxer produced by Trinity. He was born on the 18th of June, 1921 and he lived to an age of 100 years. He was one of the finest sportsmen produced by Trinity College. 

After joining Trinity, he was guided by many coaches. He lived in Matale at the time. Leslie represented Garret House in four major sports: cricket, boxing, rugby, and athletics. His siblings too were well-known sportsmen and sportswomen in their respective fields.  

Leslie became captain of the College Boxing Team in 1939 while keeping the family tradition as his father too was the captain of the College Boxing team. He was a multitalented athlete who also achieved a place in the National Boxing team. 

Immediately after leaving Trinity in 1940, Leslie joined the College staff from 1942 to 1944.

1984 Boxing Team – Leslie Handunge as Coach (6th from Left)

He enrolled in Peradeniya University’s Agriculture Faculty in 1947 to pursue a degree in agriculture, and subsequently won the Manning Cup for Best Boxer at the National Boxing Championship Meet the following year as an undergraduate. Leslie was also the Director of Physical Education at the University of Peradeniya.

Leslie obtained a Diploma in Physical Education from the University of Loughborough UK and a Masters Degree in Physical Education from the University of Springfield USA.

He gained his pride and respect by representing Sri Lanka at the 1948 London Olympics where he participated in the men’s flyweight event. In round one of this event he gained victory by defeating Guillermo Porteiro who was an Uruguayan boxer. Round 2 is where he was defeated by Spartaco Bandinelli, an Italian boxer. Not only at the London Olympics, but Leslie also participated in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He was awarded Gold medal in round 1 by defeating Walter Tello, a Panamanian boxer in the men’s flyweight event. In round 2 which was a redraw, handunge was defeated by Dai Dower, a boxer from Britain. 

Leslie Handunge (Second from Right) – The Ceylon Olympic squad at the Olympic camp in Richmond Park, London – 13th June 1948

Following his Olympic performance, Leslie enrolled in Loughborough College to pursue a Diploma in Physical Education, becoming the first Ceylonese to do so. At the age of 31, Lesie, who was also famously known as ‘Joe Louis of Ceylon,’ announced his retirement from the sport. 

Gaining the essence from many past sportsmen produced by Trinity, Boxing continues to be a key sport in College upholding the values of leadership and teamwork.

In Leslie’s own words:

“So Trinity –
Play hard, play clean,
Do nothing dirty, nothing mean
Do your best, you can’t do more,
Play the game and forget the score
Respect your opponents treat them with
chivalry
Above all, maintain the traditions of Trinity.
“

Leslie Handunge
Leslie Handunge in Action

What you can read next

Grade 2 Weekly Newsletter – 7 November 2021
“Let Us All Sing” – a musical collaboration with the Conchord Choir (Melbourne), the De Lanerolle Brothers, and the Trinity College Choir
The first Trinitian to Putt for Sri Lanka’s National Golf Squad 

LATEST NEWS

  • Leading with diplomacy: SLMUN 2021May 17, 2022
  • Medical Camp conducted by the Interact Club in collaboration with the Trinity Doctors’ AssociationMay 12, 2022
  • Principal’s Report for the Prize Giving 2020/21May 4, 2022
  • The Lakshman Kadirgamar Debating Championship: New Beginnings!April 21, 2022
  • Message from the Trinity Rugby CaptainApril 13, 2022
  • Junior Inter-House Rugby Tournament 2022 – ReviewedApril 10, 2022

Trinity on Instagram

trinitycollege.lk

Exploring Vistas of Excellence since 1872

Trinity College Kandy
The Chapel seen under the calm sky with a rainbow The Chapel seen under the calm sky with a rainbow on sight.

#trinitycollegekandy #evening #chapel 

Pic Sj George
"As TCMUN celebrates its new streak of awards in c "As TCMUN celebrates its new streak of awards in conference I believe that we should stick to the core principle that our club is based on within Trinity. That is to prioritise diplomacy over competition."

Read the full review on our College website.

#trinitycollegekandy #srilanka #modelunitednations #conference #trinity #college #kandy #education #students #activities
'Looking to the End' - An inspiring speech by Mr H 'Looking to the End' - An inspiring speech by Mr Harris Omar at the 50th Annual General Meeting of the Islamic Students' Movement

#trinitycollegekandy #speech
The Interact Club in collaboration with Trinity Do The Interact Club in collaboration with Trinity Doctors' Association held its annual Medical Camp for the past and present staff of Trinity College on May 08, 2022, at the College Main Hall.

Read the full review on our College website.

#trinitycollegekandy #interactclub #medicalcamp #doctors #trinity #college #kandy #srilanka #education #projects
Sunset seen through 'Samanea Saman' - The Rain Tre Sunset seen through 'Samanea Saman' - The Rain Tree near the Abeyratne - Jeyaraj Block. 

#trinitycollegekandy #sunset #raintree #trinity #college #kandy #srilanka #nature #evening 

Pic Sj George
"Quarrying, hauling, and erecting a unique stone e "Quarrying, hauling, and erecting a unique stone edifice, built to withstand the ravages of the centuries”

Seen on picture: a capture of the first pillar being erected in the College Chapel in 1927. Image extracted from The Centenary Number (1872-1972)

#trinitycollegekandy #history #archives #chapel #trinity #college #kandy #srilanka #architecture #buildings
Principal's Report for the Prize Giving 2020/21 is Principal's Report for the Prize Giving 2020/21 is now available on our College Website. 

#trinitycollegekandy #prizegiving #report
"අපගේ එදිනෙදා ජීවිත ගමන පහසු කරන්නේ ඔවුන්ය. අපි මෙය ලියන්නේ ත්‍රිත්ව අනධ්‍යන කාර්ය මණ්ඩලයේ කෘතවේදීත්වය, නිහතමානිකම සහ ආදරණීය බව යන ගුණාංග සේම පරාර්ථකාමී සේවය අගය කිරීම උදෙසාය."

"எமது திரித்துவக் கல்லூரியின் உதவி பணிப்பாளர்கள் உழைப்பின்றி ஒரு அணுவும் அசையாது. உருவாகும் ஒவ்வொரு பொருளும், எல்லா தொழிலும், உயர்ந்த கட்டிடங்களும் எல்லாம் பணியாளர்களால் உருவானதே எனக்கூறின் மிகையாகாது."

"One must stop to look back and admire the hard working classes of society; the individuals who uphold the sustenance of our everyday lives. It is with the virtues of gratefulness, humbleness and admiration, that we write this to appreciate selfless service."

Read the full article on our College website!

#trinitycollegekandy #appreciation #review #supportstaff #labourday #celebration
හේමා ආච්චි කියන්නේ හේමා ආච්චි කියන්නේ අපි ප්‍රාථමික අංශයේ ඉන්න කාලයේ බොහෝ සෙයින් ආදරය කළ චරිතයක්.
අපි, ශිෂ්‍ය කාර්ය බලකාය, (T150 Student Task Force) අපූරු මතක මංතීරුවක ඇවිදීමට ඇය සමඟ කතාබහකට වාඩි වුනෙමු.
මෙම පිළිසදරෙන් පිළිබිඹුවන පණිවිඩයක් වන, නිහතමානීව එකිනෙකාට සලකමින් සමාජයේ මනුෂ්‍යත්වයට දායක වීම සෑම ත්‍රිත්වයෙකුගේම වගකීමක් බව සනාත වන අතර එය ඔබ, අප සැම අඛණ්ඩව ඉටු කල යුතු සේවයකි.

Meet Hema Achchi! A loving personality we all adored immensely during our time at the Junior School. 
We, the T150 Student Task Force, sat down with her for a chat to take a stroll down memory lane.
The message of this conversation is that it is the duty of every Trinitian to contribute to the humanity of society by treating each other with humility and that is a service that you and all of us must continue to do.

පාරාර්ථකාමී සේවයක ඇගයීම
தன்னலமற்ற சேவைகளை பாராட்டுதல்
Appreciating Selfless Service

#trinitycollegekandy #interview #aprpeciation #selfless #service #studentaskforce
Load More… Follow us on Instagram

TRINITY COLLEGE ON FLICKR

    Browse Our Gallery

    Tweets @TrinityColKandy

    48 minutes agoMusical Evening by the Trinity College Oriental Music Society to mark the commissioning of the Trinity Oriental Mus… https://t.co/1Bu8vcOi1v
    23 hours agoThe Chapel seen under the calm sky with a rainbow on sight. #trinitycollegekandy #evening #chapel Pic Sj George https://t.co/bYGGipq5Dh
    yesterdayNotice to students sitting for O/L Examination 2022: Taking into consideration the current transport issues faced… https://t.co/BcVwJ7FRtV
    4 days ago"As TCMUN celebrates its new streak of awards in conference I believe that we should stick to the core principle th… https://t.co/XfCzCPRj23
    Follow @TrinityColKandy

    Archives

    Tweets @TrinityColKandy

    48 minutes agoMusical Evening by the Trinity College Oriental Music Society to mark the commissioning of the Trinity Oriental Mus… https://t.co/1Bu8vcOi1v
    Follow @TrinityColKandy

    Quick Links

    • Home
    • Contact
    • News and Media
    • Trinity150
    • Events
    • Online Payments
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • My Account
    • GET SOCIAL
    Trinity College Kandy - Respice Finem

    Copyright © 2000 - 2022 Trinity College, Kandy. All rights reserved.

    TOP
    X