Wadood plays the game of his life

Chris Dhambarage

He was handed the responsibility of manning the last line of defence in the absence of their regular full back ahead of one of their important matches in the current inter-school rugby season.
But it turned out to be the turning point in the career of Halique Abdul Wadood who grabbed the opportunity with both hands to cement his position and to emerge as one of the most dynamic full backs this season.

Last week the five-foot two-inch little power house from Trinity College Kandy produced his best ever performance in First XV rugby to spearhead his team to a memorable victory against Royal College.     
“I think I played my best ever game this season against Royal College in the Bradby Shield second leg at the Pallekele Stadium where I managed to score the last two tries and seal a convincing 36-20 victory for Trinity College.

“The second try of course was entirely initiated by my captain and centre three-quarter Kaneel Seneviratne who did all the hard work by covering nearly seventy metres after making a splendid interception before sending out a pass.
“I must also thank my other centre Darshana Udalagama for helping me to score the first try where I formed the overlap by joining the three-quarter line and then added the finishing touches by penetrating the blind side.

“Overall it was a fantastic effort from the team and I am proud to be part of this champion side which had earlier clinched the Singer Under-20 ‘A’ Division League tournament after a lapse of 25 years,” said the seventeen-year old second year player of Trinity College.
Wadood who bagged the under 55 kg title at last year’s All Island powerlifting championships stated that he never anticipated that he could make such an impact as a full back having started his junior rugby career as a scrum half.   
“I took over the duties as the full back of the team midway in the season when the regular full back Sanchana Shiek was sidelined with an injury ahead of the vital game against S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia.

“I accepted the challenge at that time and since then I have performed my task to near perfection and to the fullest satisfaction of the coaching staff to be a regular player in the side having played most of my rugby as a scrum half.”
Wadood a grade 13 Advanced Level student who is hoping to become a specialist in computer science is undoubtedly the vital link in this Trinity College team having masterminded many scoring opportunities this season.
“In the league tournament I managed to score seven tries but my main target was to create a scoring opportunity and see that my teammates do the scoring which gave me plenty of satisfaction at the end.

“Last year of course I was not a regular player but still I managed to play in the games against S. Thomas’, St. Peter’s, Thurstan and also in the Bradby Shield second leg against Royal where we emerged victorious by a huge margin in Colombo.
Wadood of course was inspired to take up rugby football by his three elder brothers Rishard, Shaham and Umair after having initially had a short stint in the college junior basketball team.

He soon mastered the art and turned out to be a regular player in all the junior teams and also was a member of the champion Trinity College under-16 team which clinched the Central Province tournament in 2008.
I must commend the services of all the coaches who helped me to reach this standard including the present coach Niloufer Ibrahim and Neil Foote and the junior coaches Rankothge, Alex Lazarous, Kumar Dias and Thusitha,” concluded Wadood.