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Indrajith Bandaranayake is a former Sri Lankan rugby union player and coach. He currently lives in Australia. [1]
He pursued his primary and secondary education at the Dharmaraja College in Kandy. He also played for the Dharmaraja College rugby team for one season. After leaving the school, he pursued his career in rugby and joined the Kandy Sports Club in 1990. [2]
He was a crucial member of the Kandy SC club which went onto win the Clifford Cup for the first time in 1992 under the captaincy of Maurice Joachim. [3] He became the youngest ever captain to lead the Kandy Sports Club at the age of 24. Under his captaincy, Kandy SC won the Sri Lanka Rugby Championship title in 1994. [4]
He moved to Australia for personal reasons in 1996 and returned to Sri Lanka to play for Kandy Sports Club after a two year absence from the sport. [2] He also captained Sri Lankan national side at the Singapore Sevens in 1998. [2] He was once again appointed as the captain of Kandy SC in 2000 ahead of the Clifford Cup tournament which they won by defeating Sri Lanka Army Sports Club by 39 – 12 in the final. [2]
He also featured in Sri Lankan national squads at the Asian Rugby Championship in 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002. [5] He was a member of the Sri Lankan side which finished at sixth position in the men's rugby sevens competition at the 2002 Asian Games and was also part of the fifteen member Sri Lankan squad which competed in the men's rugby union competition at the 2002 Asian Games. [6] He retired from the sport in 2002 after being part of the Sri Lankan contingent at the 2002 Asian Games. [5]
In September 2004, one of the terraces at Nittawela Rugby Stadium was named after Indrajith Bandaranayake and was declared open by the then Prime minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakse. [7] [4]
Dharmaraja College, founded in 1887, is a boys' school in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist school with around 300+ teaching staff and over 5,000 students. The school has many notable alumni including the first President of Sri Lanka William Gopallawa, A. E. Goonesinha, T.B Kehelgamuwa, Chamara Kapugedera, Sudarshana Pathirana and others.
Bogambara Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka It is one of the oldest grounds in the country. Stadium is currently used mostly for Rugby matches and hosted the games of the Singer Sri Lankan Airlines Rugby 7's. It has a capacity of 30,000.
Rugby union in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. It is a popular team sport with a history dating back to 1879. In 2012, according to International Rugby Board figures, there were over 103,000 registered rugby union players in Sri Lanka, making it the second largest rugby-playing nation in Asia, behind Japan.
Kandy Sports Club is a Division 'A' rugby union team, based in Kandy, Sri Lanka, competing in the Dialog Rugby League. The club has been the most successful Sri Lankan club in the Sri Lanka Rugby Championship, winning 18 league titles in the last twenty years, which is the most wins by any club since the expanded competition commenced in 1950. The club has also won twenty Clifford Cups and in the period between 1995 and 2012 the club did not lose a Clifford Cup title, although in 1998 there was no tournament and in 2006 the club withdrew from the tournament. Kandy SC had won the league title for a record nine consecutive years between 2000 and 2009.
Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club is a Division 'A' rugby union team based in Sri Lanka. It is the rugby union team of the Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club. In 2014 they won the Clifford Cup, for the first time, defeating Havelock Sports Club, 27–22 in the final. Navy SC also completed the 'Grand Double' by winning the Dialog Rugby League Championship with an undefeated season that same year.
Sri Lanka Army Sports Club is a Division 'A' rugby union team based in Sri Lanka that plays in the Dialog Rugby League in Sri Lanka. It is the rugby union team of the Sri Lanka Army Sports Club and was founded in 1962.
Sri Lanka Police Sports Club is a Division 'A' rugby union team based in Sri Lanka, competing in the Dialog Rugby League. It is the rugby union team of the Sri Lanka Police Sports Club.
Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club are a Division 'A' rugby union team, based in Sri Lanka. It is the rugby union team of the Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club.
Imran Bisthamin is a rugby union footballer in Sri Lanka who played for Sri Lanka, and Kandy Sports Club. He is a product of St. Anthony's College, Kandy, where he captained the college rugby team.
Ishak Shahabdeen is a Sri Lankan double international who represented his country in both Cricket and Hockey.
The Sri Lanka Rugby Championship, known as the Nippon Paint Inter-Club Rugby League for sponsorship reasons, is the major national rugby union club competition, held between the top Division 'A' rugby sides, in Sri Lanka. The annual home and away competition, featuring eight Division 'A' teams, has been held since 1950. The competition has been held between November and February for the last three seasons. The first round of the tournament runs for seven weekends with the final match of the first round in early January, no games are played over the Christmas holiday period. The second round also runs for seven weekends, with the final match in the beginning of March.
The Clifford Cup is the most prestigious club rugby knockout tournament in Sri Lanka, and arguably the oldest rugby tournament in Asia. The Clifford Cup commenced in 1911 and has been played continuously since 1950, having completed 79 seasons. The tournament began as a competition between the mercantile executives in Colombo and planters in the hill country.
Fazil Marija is a former rugby union player of Sri Lanka. Marija is known as one of Sri Lanka's finest rugby union players and one of Asia's best. He was the former captain of the Sri Lanka national rugby union team. Marija comes from a sporting family background, with at least 17 members through two generations having represented various Clubs, Services Teams and National Rugby teams during the past four decades. Marija hails from the hill capital Kandy.
Srinath Soori Sooriyabandara is a Sri Lankan rugby union player who currently plays for the Kandy SC in Dialog Rugby League. He represented Sri Lanka in the 15-man code between 2009 and 2014. He is also a vital part of the National Sevens Team since 2010 and was appointed as Captain of the team for the 2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series. He usually plays at Scrum half, but due to his versatility he can also cover Fly-Half and Full-back.
Nittawela Rugby Stadium is a purpose-built rugby union stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is one of Sri Lanka's most famous rugby venues.
Sumanthiran Navaratnam, also known as Sumana Navaratnam or Summa Navaratnam, is a Sri Lankan former track and field athlete, Sri Lankan rugby union player, coach and business executive. He is regarded as one of the finest sportspeople from Sri Lanka. He is currently the oldest living Sri Lankan athlete at the age of 96 as of 2021.
Radhika Hettiarachchi is a Sri Lankan rugby union player and coach. He captained both Sri Lanka national rugby union team and Sri Lanka national rugby sevens team. He is regarded as one of the finest rugby sevens players to have emerged from Sri Lanka and he is also nicknamed as Iron Man of Sri Lanka Rugby.
Tharinda Ratwatte also known as Ashan Ratwatte is a Sri Lankan rugby union and sevens player who plays as a fly-half. His father Ashan Ratwatte was also a rugby union player having played for both Kandy SC and Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club. His granduncle Anuruddha Ratwatte was a politician.
Dansha Dayan Chandradas also known as Dansha Chandradas is a Sri Lankan rugby union and rugby sevens player who currently plays as a fullback.