Janaka Buddhika de Silva was synonymous at
Isipathana College in the late 1990s. His versatility as an outstanding forward
earned him a number of accolades during his rugby career. A great patron of the
sport, Janaka represented club and country before eventually leaving the
country to pursue his higher studies after aggravating an injury which
sidelined him from competitive rugby.
He was born in 1980 and his parents were Lal and Shiromi De Silva
who witnessed their two sons, Janaka and Nimesh representing the school in
rugby, where Nimesh went on to lead his ‘Alma Mater’ in 2003. According to
Janaka, Buddhika although his mother was apprehensive at the outset, she
eventually became his biggest supporter in competing in the sport. He admits
that he was highly influenced by his cousins to take up the sport and he
credits much of his success to the late Hiran , Suren, Shihan and Nilantha
Ratnayake.
He kicked off his sporting career in 1993 at the age of 13 years.
A solid foundation was laid by Sanath Asanjaya and Hycinth Kumara who played
coaching and the mentoring roles. Much of the success of Isipathana rugby
during that era was attributed to discipline and a strong work ethic which
encouraged the teams to excel.
Janaka Buddhika was a member of unbeaten champion school teams in
the under-13,15,17 and the 19 age categories. Having started his rugby career
as a second row forward, Janaka also became familiar with playing in the front
row as a prop forward.
He represented his ‘Alma Mater’ with the under-15 team at the
Malaysian school’s open tournament. In 1997, he was called up to represent Sri
Lankan schools on a tour to Chinese Taipei and attributes much of his success
to his teammates and individuals such as Kalum Gunaratne and Maxwell Dias.
Janaka was a school colors-man for three years in a row and cemented himself
into the squad. In 1998, led by Shamly Nawaz, the team secured a grand-slam
finish at the Anchor Beer Championship in Singapore.
One year later in 1999, was his final year at College and in that
year he was the Vice-captain of the team and went on to become the unbeaten
Triple Rugby Champions while emerging as the Singer Sevens undisputed champions
under the captaincy of scrum half Krishantha Chandran.
During his tenure they won the All Island 10 a side Cup
Championship, remained as All Island unbeaten League Champions, unbeaten Knockout
Cup Champions and unbeaten Singer Sevens Cup Champions which was a unique
achievement.
His team comprised of Saleem Azar, Anuranga Walpola, Kamal
Saseedaran, Razmi Haffil, Dilan Perera, Lasantha Mallikarachchi, Ranga
Senadheera, Malik Ameer, J.Chandran, Madhusha Priyamanjula, Chandika Bandara,
Krishantha Chandran, Roshan Peries, Veediya Bandara, Ranga Perera, Maurice
Abeyratne, Hamesh Gunaratne, Charith Kodagoda, Amila Costa, Janith Alahapperuma
and Pala Sanjaya few to be named. After an eventful school rugby career, Janaka
opted to continue his club rugby career and joined CH and FC.
He represented the club in rugby sevens format in 1999 and lost in
the Semi Finals to CR and FC. His unstinted performance caught the eyes of
coach, Nimal Lewke and received the opportunity to represent Sri Lanka in 2000
for the Malaysian Sevens and Hong Kong sevens where eventually where he ended
up with a serious injury. His team mates at the National Sevens Team were
Indrajith Bandaranayake, Duminda De Silva, Damith Manjula, Sajith Saranga,
Nilufer Ibrahim, Jude Pillai, Yuganthara Karunarathne, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe,
Milinda Jayasinghe and Asanga Rodrigo few to be named.
After his injury in their bout against England, Janaka continued
to play a few seasons for CH under-24 and prevailed as runner’s up at the
All-Island Sevens Tournament. During his short stint with the Club and National
career he acknowledged the support and guidance of rugby greats such as Jude
Pillai, Duminda De Silva, Shashika Coorey and administrator Rizly Illyas. The
coaches Tony Amit and Nimal Lewke who were instrumental in transforming them to
a highly skilled and talented team.
In 2002, Janaka decided to hang up his boots and travelled
overseas to pursue his higher education at the James Madison University where
he graduated in Economics and Finance. He strengthened his academic credentials
by completing an MBA in Supply Chain Management at the University of Moratuwa.
He currently plies his trade at NC Fashions which is an apparel exporter to US
Markets. Wife is Aruni Perera and daughter is Nethari and has a son Kaveesh.
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