Kandy Sports Club has been the most successful rugby club, winning 21 league titles in the last twenty six years, which is the most wins by any club since the expanded competition commenced in 1950. The club has also won 21 Clifford Cups in the period between1992 to 2019. In 1998 there was no tournament and in 2006 the club withdrew from the tournament.. Since the inception of the inter club competition in 1950, the game has been very popular in Kandy. . Rugby players who represent this club give their best .
,For the first time Kandy Sports Club entered the final in 1954 under the captaincy of S.B. Pilapitiya but lost to CR & FC in the final,, and once again the following year 1955 under the captaincy of Jeff Macpherson, too they went down to CR & FC in the final. Then the next final was after 14 years in 1969 under Denzil Kobbekaduwa here too they went down to CR & FC, The next was after nine years in 1978 under Irwin Howie and lost to Havelock SC.
Then in 1991, Kandy SC’s fortunes changed with the arrival of former Royal College, CR & FC and Sri Lanka linkman Malik Samarawickrema, the major figure who helped to establish the game and motivated the Kandy Sports Club side with the support of the then committee to win the first trophy in 1992 the Clifford Cup under stand in captain Maurice Joachim,That year, the league tournament captain was Ananda Kasthuriarachchi, in which they finished in second place,but had to give way for Maurice to lead them to win the Clifford Cup, in the knockout tournament for the first time in their history. This was followed by an outstanding performance in the 1994 league in which they won the title for the first time.
Kandy Sports Club the present holders of the league championship, have won the league in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001,2002, 2003, 2004,2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017,2018, 2019, and 2020. Then the knockouts from 1992,1993, 1995, 1996, 1997,1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008,2009, 2010, 2011, 2012,2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and in the year 2019 they didn’t take part . The home town club’s triumphs ignited new enthusiasm among the schools and this is reflected in the composition of the all-conquering outfit. Kandy SC’s untroubled journey to success in all three major tournaments can be simply put down to the capacity of rugby development and promotion. .
Kandy rugby is today the number one glamour sport and whenever Kandy SC is involved the fans flock to the venues in their thousands to enjoy the thrills and spills that the players provide. Rugby is also known as king in the Kandy’s sports calendar and none can forget the services rendered to the sport by people like Stanley Martin, Colonel Stanley Ratwatte, Oswin Silva, Chandra Wijenayake, YC Chang, EW Balasuriya, Dr. C D L Fernando, Dr. S.. Nadesen, Dr. John Karunaratne,Dr. Dago Gunawardene, Anuruudha Ratwatte, Dharmasiri Madugalle, Maurice Perera, Malik Samarawickrema, Kishin Butani, Dr Sarath Kapuwatte, Iswan Omar,Siva Subramanium, Nimal Malagamuwa, Dr. S.Jayakuru, Col. Allen Nugawela, Nimal Lewke, Priyantha Ekanayake, William Gal Weerasinghe, Meryl “Ford” Gunatlake, Sarath Perera, C.H. Seneviratne, Sarath Zoysa, Hassan Sinhawansa, Malath Fernando, Hemaka Amarasuriya, Hemantha Yatawara, Maurice Joachim,Milroy Mendis, Leslie Soysa, Dudley Gunatilake, Ananda Kasthuriachchi to name a few.
All in all the man behind the success was none other than ‘Mr. Rugby’ Malik Samarawickrema. everyone who supports Kandy SC are proud of the contribution made by him. From the day he chose to promote rugby at Kandy SC the game has flourished. He is the man who helped the club win the first ever trophy . Sans Malik Kandy rugby would have been like a carnival without lights.When the history of rugby is recorded at Nittawela, the name of Malik Samarawickrema will stand out as one of the greatest administrators of this sport. . . . .
From the cup winning years Kandy Sports Club has had some notable players Some of them wereSri Lanka skipper dynamic Antonian Priyantha Ekanayake, his brother Lakshman Ekanayake, Indrajith Bandaranayake, Leroy Fonseka, Manjula Pathirana, MauriceJoachim, Shyam Sideek, Anil Jayasinghe, Rizvi Suhaib, Inthi Marikar, Lasantha Wijesuriya,Fijians Kitioni Ratrudradra, Bati Penaia, Apisai Nagata, Tony Greanny and Viliame Satala, AchalaPerera, Amila Bandara, Ananda Kasthuriarachchi, Anuranga Walpola, AravindaUdangamuwa, Buddhi Talagampola, Chamara Withanage, Dharshana Ettipola, DilipSelvam, Erande Swarnatillake, Fazil Marija, Gayan Ratnage, Nalaka Weerakkody,Gayan and Roshan Weeraratne brothers, Haris Omar, Kavinda Jayasena, Imran Bisthamin, Kasun Silva, KasunJayasuriya, Kishore Jehan, Krishantha Rajapakse, Kusal Rankothge, Lalantha Karunatilake,Malinga Godigamuwa, Shehan Pathirana, M. Jabbar, M. Sabry, M. Sheriff, NavindaPullukuttiarachchi, Niranjan Ranasinghe, Pradeep Basnayake, Pradeep Liyanage,Prasad Chathuranga, Radhika Hettiarachchi,, Sajith Saranga, Saliya Kumara,Sameera Silva, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, Sean Wijesinghe, Senaka Bandara, Shashika Jayawardene, Nigel Ratwatte, Srinath Sooriyabandara, Tharindu Ratwatte, Arshad Jamaldeen, Lavanga Perera, Kanchana Ramanayake, Richard Dharmapala, Danushka Ranjan, Oshan Perera, Vishwamithra Jayasinghe, Danush Dayan, Asitha Ratnayake,Anruddha Wilwara, Eranda Weerakkody, Thilina Wijesinghe. And some of the coaches who gave a big hand to win trophies were MauricePerera, Alex Lazarus, Priyantha Ekanayake, John Taylor, TavitTulagese, Neil Foote, Johan Taylor, Sean . Wijesinghe, Fazil Marija, Saliya Kumara and Nalaka Weerakody.
0 comments:
Post a Comment