• Formed one of the most feared halves combinations with Nagata 

Former Sri Lanka, CH & FC, Havelock SC, and Isipathana fly-half Sudesh Abeysinghe passed away aged 54 in Maryland in the US, where he was domiciled, on Thursday (27).

The late Abeysinghe, who hailed from a rugby-playing family, represented the Isipathana first XV in 1986 and continued to play until 1988 when he led his alma mater.

Two of his uncles, Dudley de Silva and Leslie de Silva, were also educated at the Havelock Town-based school and played the game in the 1970s with distinction, while his sibling Mahesh Abeysinghe also followed in his footsteps.

It is said that Sudesh Abeysinghe, who had initially played as a fullback, had switched to fly-half at the behest of his former school coach, the late O.W.R. Perera.

The former Isipathana coach had noticed the youngster’s burgeoning skill set was far more suited to the pivotal position than at the last line of defence, and as the saying goes, what transpired in the ensuing years was history.

After leaving school, he turned out first for Havelock SC, and in 1989, he joined CH & FC and emerged as one of the top five-eighths in the country.

He was also instrumental in forming one of the most feared halves combinations in the domestic rugby circuit during its golden age in the 1980s and 1990s alongside Fijian scrum-half Apisai Nagata for the Maitland Crescent-based club.

At the time, Abeysinghe was employed at the ANZ Grindlays Bank and represented his firm in the Mercantile Sevens Rugby Tournament as well.

Abeysinghe played for CH from 1989 to 1994, and during his time, the Gymkhana Club annexed four triple crowns and two double crowns; he also led his club in 1995.

Among some of the leading lights of CH at the time when Abeysinghe played the game were the late Chandrishan Perera, Hisham Abdeen, Rohan Abeykoon, Bharatha Hegoda, Nishantha Dias, Azad Junkeer, Asitha Botheju, Saman Jayasinghe, and Dimitri Jude, to name only a few. 

The talented out-half subsequently represented the national team in both 15s and sevens rugby, and he played under both Abdeen and Priyantha Ekanayake. 

Among the coaches who moulded Abeysinghe at Isipathana were Maxi Dias and O.W.R. Perera, while at CH he came under the watchful eyes of Michael Jayasekera and Tony Amith.

At national level, he was put through his paces by the likes of Anton Benedict, Amith, Ajith Abeyratne, and New Zealander Jeff Matheson.  

The Sunday Morning Sports Desk conveys its deepest condolences to the family, relatives, and friends of the late Sudesh Abeysinghe on his recent demise.

(JK)