Junaid M. Ayub having played Hockey, Football and Cricket was one of the top All Rounders produced by St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy.
Having represented his Alma Mater in Hockey, Football and Cricket he has achieved milestones in his sporting journey which are yet to be surpassed.
He was the only Sri Lankan, to play for the Western and Southern Command of the Indian Navy, in 1971 and 1972.
According to hockey analysts at that time, Ayub was the most scientific centre half and was an automatic choice for the then National team. However he could not continue his hockey carrier as he had to concentrate on his work as third officer at Ceylon shipping Corporation and second and Chief Officer at Saudi – Europe Lines.
Ayub started his sporting career by first playing for college U 17 team and went on to play for All Island nationals as well. His skills earned him the captaincy of the under 20 team in 1968.
He also captained the Under 20, Combined Kandy Schools team and was instrumental in scoring the winning goal during the last 7 minutes, to win the Championships in the All Island Nationals, held at Matale in 1968.
“It was a very, very tough to win a hockey championship at Matale at that time,” he recalled.
Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Rear Admiral Rajan Kadirgamar who was the Chief Guest and this tournament saw his talent and assisted Ayub to join the Sri Lanka Navy as an Officer Cadet.
When in College, Ayub was the only Sylvestrian in the Senior National hockey pool and also toured India with the Colombo hockey team, to India in 1968.
He also represented Sri Lanka National schools team (only Sylvestrian) and toured India, for the Indo Sri Lanka Dual Sports contest.
While in Scholl he also played for Kandy Whites hockey team and for BRC, which at that time, was a sheer honor to secure a place.
After joining Navy he went on to captained their hockey team in 1974 and guided to be a major force to be reckoned with.
He also played for Defense Services hockey team as a Centre half and was instrumental to win the All island National hockey championships, at Badulla in 1973.
He also played for Colombo HA in the All Island hockey Nationals and scored the only goal during the last 5 minutes against the National hockey team goal keeper, late Johnny Martin of Mercantile HA. Colombo HA had only 3 National players, where Mercantile had 8 National players.
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