Samarawickrema the "shadowy revolutionary" breaks his silence

by Hafiz Marikar

A man of few words who often shuns the public limelight, rugby promoter Malik Samarawickrema could not hide his emotions after Kandy Sports Club started off the new season by bagging the inter club Sevens tournament last Sunday at the Race Course ground in Colombo after beating Havelocks 17-10 in the final.

"I'm a little bit lost for words", Samarawickrema declared as he soaked up the celebratory atmosphere inside the Race Course ground Stadium as his team's supporters went into rapturous cheers on the sidelines.

"Tactically we were really astute there. I was really pleased with how they (players) managed that final.They defended at the right pace and didn't jump in to tackles. They scored when we needed to and had that final killer instinct to record a win convincingly. It was an outstanding performance by the team.When we get our attack going Kandy is a hard team to play against", said Samarawickrema.

Considered the revolutionary behind the resurgence of Kandy, Samarawickrema said that Havelocks was no mean enemy and the winners had to get all the technicalities right to put their noses in front.

"We were tired after the semi-final, but we got our reserves back from somewhere", he said.

In a touching moment Kandy skipper Fazil Marija dedicated the victory to what he said was "up there".

Kandy were at one time trailing Havelocks 7-10 but bounced back in typical fashion to make up for what happened in last year's heart-break final when they lost to the same opponent.

On their way to the final Kandy beat CR and FC 19-7 in the semis while Havies put up an impressive show against Police to win 33-0.

Gayan Weerartne, Roshan Weeraratne, Nigel Ratwatte, Richard Darmapala, Fazil Marija, Lavanaga Perera and Anuruddha Wilwara mad up the winning combination.

Kandy won a Sevens title for the first time in 1999 and Samarawickrema saw it all.