Centre Avantha played for Sri Lanka with his brother Radhika in 2007 Rugby Asiad-by Althaf Nawaz

Source:Dailynews

The game of rugby is a body contact sport. The players competing in this sport have to maintain a good physique while taking care of their injuries on a regular basis. Some times they suffer serious injuries while playing competitive rugby, resulting in a sad end to their career, while they are at their peak. Udaya Avantha Hettiarachchi is one of the rugby players who hails from a family which was involved in handling the oval shaped ball, who had a sad end to his career with a knee injury which ultimately sidelined him permanently from the game when he was at his peak.

Avantha was born in 1980 in the outskirts of the city of Kandy. With a height of over five feet he was a robust player in the field of rugby. His father was Vijey Hettiarachchi a businessman while Nirmala his mother is a house wife. He has two elder siblings Vinod and Radhika who attended Dharmaraja College. Udaya played rugby for the school and later donned the jersey of Kandy Sports Club, CR and FC and Sri Lanka while Radhika also represented Kandy, Air Force, CR and FC and CH and FC at club rugby and donned the National jersey along with him. Avantha too schooled at Dharmaraja from 1986 to 1999 from the primary to higher education. He was also very enthusiastic in engaging in sports like his two elder brothers at school. While he was concentrating on his studies, his sporting talents were spotted by C.S. Ekanayake who turned out to be his junior coach in rugby, who also taught him the basics of the game. He then started competing from the College under-13 team and gradually went on to play in all age categories before reaching the first XV team. The feature of his rugby career was that he was able to play with his elder brother Radhika who was one of the best in the game at that time.

He occupied the key fly half position due to his extraordinary kicking ability which was a gifted talent imbibed in him.

During his two-year tenure as a player in the college first XV team, he played under Damith Kulakumsuirya’s captaincy which was ably coached by another legend from his school Hemantha Yatawara. He also represented the college football team on par with rugby from under-13 stage until the under-17 age category, where he led them. Apart from these sports, he turned out be a boxer at school and competed at the L.V. Jayaweera tournament in the 65 kg weight category and played cricket in the under-13 and 15 age category.

Soon after passing GCE A/L exam, he joined CR and FC where both his elder brothers were donning their jersey in 2000 playing as a fly half.

He was also another player who changed clubs frequently during his tenure as a player. Represented Kandy Youth Sports Club in 2001 when they emerged champs.

He then represented the Kandy Sports Club playing in the under- 21 tournament which also won the championship. He then was promoted to play in the senior team with Kandy from 2001 to 2003.

After completing his contract there, he shifted to Colombo to rejoin his former club CR and played from 2005 to 2008 as a centre three quarter. He finally concluded his club rugby career while representing CH and FC from 2009 to 2013 occupying the same position as his previous club. During his club career, he was in several champion sides in all the clubs he represented. He played for Sabaragamuwa Titans at the Carlton Rugby sevens tournament. While he was playing for CR in 2007 he was called upon to represent the National team as a centre three quarter under Jeewa Galgamuwa’s captaincy in the Rugby. Asiad in Colombo in which Sri Lanka emerged runners up to Kazakhstan losing 17-24 in the final While he was establishing a regular place, he incurred a very unfortunate knee injury which sidelined him permanently and retired from competitive rugby.

He has some fond memories in his rugby career including winning the Caltex President Cup in 2007 for CR and FC led by Shamil Mohamed. Also was fortunate to play rugby with his elder brother (Radhika Hettiarachchi ) for CR and FC and the National team in 2007. He has followed an Advanced diploma in Marketing (SLIM) and worked for Walker Tours from 2004 to 2007 and then joined Pan Asia Bank in 2013. He led the team in 2018 which played in the Mercantile Sevens and works with them up-to-date. His wife is Sumali Guruge Hettiarachchi and has a baby son Mihein Thewhas who is only six months old.