Zumri’s presence can boost Kandy’s rugby revival
Isipatana can be proud of Shahid Zumri, one of its recent outstanding products in the sport of rugby. The lad shone for his school in the 2024 school season and was chosen to represent the senior national sevens team contesting the Asia Rugby Emirates Trophy in Nepal. This feat marks his debut with the Sri Lanka senior rugby team. What makes his achievement all the more memorable is that Zumri did it while still being a schoolboy.
From an analytical point of view, the breaking into the national team is a mighty achievement because he has slotted in with players who are now professionals in the sport. This writer says so because the game is now played at club level by ruggerites who are virtual ‘beasts’ who eat, drink and sleep rugby. School rugby is not less competitive. This is why Zumri was able to upgrade his rugby from school level to national level at such a young age. That’s a huge leap. He is yet to experience the knocks in club rugby and the news reaching the sports desk at ‘The Island’ is that he has already signed up to represent Kandy Sports Club during the 2024/25 inter-club league rugby season. The inter-club rugby season will begin in November.
He will be playing for a club that is led by a product of the same factory (Isipatana College) that produced him. That player is none other than Srinath Sooriyabandara. Zumri going straight to Kandy SC is a challenge in itself. We had players like the late Sajith Mallikarachchi, Nalaka Weerakkody, Ashoka Jayasena and Sanjeewa Jayasinghe who started with other Colombo clubs before heading to the Nittawela Club, now considered as the supreme institute in rugby that offers players a professional atmosphere to pursue careers in rugby. All these above mentioned players had some grooming in club rugby before they moved to Kandy SC.
Zumri showed in no uncertain terms that he is a team player while wearing the green jersey for his alma mater at rugby. That’s a quality that’ll hold him in good stead in his new club. Kandy SC is oozing with talent and Zumri can certainly add to the equation with his dazzling play, quicksilver footwork and solid thinking. Only selfless players like Zumri can think ‘right’ when a tough situation on the field demands that a player chooses for his team and not for himself.
There is a lot to learn by playing for Kandy SC. To start with, Kandy SC is struggling to avenge woes from a less than successful season last year. Last season Kandy SC finished as runners up in the league tournament and chose to pull out from the knockouts. We all know that Kandy SC is now experiencing a team rebuilding process. This is the best time for school leavers to enroll at a club. There were times when Kandy SC and CR&FC in recent years and Havelocks SC and Police Sports Club in the past were like heavy weights in rugby and didn’t have doors open for schoolboys to walk in just like that and represent their ‘A’ teams. You just had to warm the bench and wait patiently till your turn or opportunity arrived.