Winger Ajith Upawansa led CH to the league rugby title after 18 years-by Althaf Nawaz

Ajith Upawansa

It is very rare to find a sportsman who blossoms out at club and national level without any experience at school level. Winger. Ajith Upawansa was one of the sportsmen who took up the game of rugby without any basic knowledge at grassroot level and had never held a rugby ball until he joined a club, after which he transformed to a champion player bringing honour and fame to the country.

Ajith was born in 1968 in Hunupitiya, Wattala and his father was late N. P. Dayananda a businessman and Mother Malika Peiris is a housewife. Ajith successfully completed his school career at St. Anthony’s College, Wattala. He maintained a sturdy, muscular physique from his young days and had a liking towards engaging in sports. He launched his sporting career with football at school in the under-13 age category and went on to dribble at the senior level. In 1987, they qualified for the Inter school under-18 Brazil Cup soccer tournament semi final in which he represented his Alma Mater but missed out the final as he had to travel overseas. He also was actively involved in sthletics at school.

His presence in rugby was quite interesting. During his free time, he used to play rugby at a club called United Club Hunupitiya in Wattala and picked up the basics of the game there. Former rugby legend Nalin de Silva used to make on and off visits to educate them on the basics of the game. Ajith after his migration to Abu Dhabi, played in the Al Ain sevens tournament and won the ‘Man of the Tournament’. While he was competing there, his talent was spotted by former Lankan Mark Swaminathan, President of a club

called Peacocks Club in Abu Dhabi. He has helped him to get a job at Abu Dhabi duty free while playing rugby. After which he played for the Abu Dhabi BAT’s Rugby Club from 1991to1995. In the 1993/94 season they won the Gulf Rugby League Cup and the Gulf Cup Championship. He was also awarded

the ‘Most Outstanding Player’ of the year while becoming the leading try scorer with 14 tries. The next season in 1994/95, they won the Gulf Cup Championship once again while becoming the runner-up in the Gulf Rugby League. They also went on to win the Bahrain 15’s ‘Plate championship’ and

the Sharjah 10’s ‘Plate Championships’ in 1994 and in many more tournaments until he quit from there in 1995. This experience enabled him to play with several ‘A’ division players from different countries and learn the basics of the game. Finally, he left Abu Dhabi in 1995 and came back to Sri Lanka.

He then joined the CH and FC club the same year where his team was captained by Sudesh Abeysinghe and coached by Tony Amit. He played in1996 season under Chanka Jayaweera, in 1997, under Bimal Perera, in 1998, under Jude Pillai and in 1999 under Nazeem Mohamed’s captaincy respectively. The club appointed Nazeem Mohomad as the captain to continue the 2000 season. But due to an unfortunate injury during a practice match against Navy team before the season Nazeem was sidelined and Ajith was appointed as captain where Rizly Illyas was the Manager. His team went on to beat the mighty Kandy team at home with a 33-11 score line and drew three-all in Kandy in the second leg. In the Caltex League decider CH and FC beat CR and FC 25-16 to win the ‘Caltex League after 18 years under his captaincy, which was an unforgettable moment in his life. In 2001, he captained them once again and became the second runners up of Caltex rugby League. Later in the same year they played the ‘Denzil Kobbekaduwa Cup Sevens Tournament and became runner-up losing to Havelocks in the final. Earlier in 1997, CH and FC snatched the Denzil Kobbakaduwa sevens trophy and the rugby convener was Shane Dullewe coached by Tony Amit.

While he was donning the jersey for Gymkhana Club in 2001, he was called for the National side and made his debut at the Kandy International Sevens tournament captained by Indrajith Bandaranayake coached by Nimal Lewke. In 2002, at the same tournament he was listed in the Sri Lanka ‘B’ team captained by

him and coached by Asanga Seneviratne. While he was competing in the sevens arena in many tournaments, in 2001 he had the opportunity of representing the country in the XV-a-side match against Thailand captained

by Asoka Jayasena coached by Nimal Lewke. In 2009, he also locked horns at the over 35 Bangkok 10’s tournament and became the Cup runners up. He was privileged to play with some of the elite players at that time like Sudesh Abeysinghe, Bimal Perera, Nishantha Dias, Nazeem Mohomad, Jude Pillai, Nishnatha Chanaka, Sudath Sampath, Nalin Dissanayake, Graham Raux, Duminda de Silva and Thushara Jayalath He finally decided to call it a day to his illustrious rugby career in 2002 after the club season at the age of 40 years.

His wife is Udayanganie Nuwarapaksha a housewife and the three children are Shamal Akash working as a pilot at Qatar Airways. Nadunie Nemesha a final year medical student and Buddhima Gawesh an Advanced Level student.