Srinath ''Soori'' Sooriyabandara is a Sri Lankan

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who currently plays for the Kandy SC in Dialog Rugby League. He represented Sri Lanka in the 15-man code between 2009 and 2014. He is also a vital part of the National Sevens Team since 2010 and was appointed as Captain of the team for the 2018

Asia Rugby Sevens Series The Asia Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of regional rugby sevens tournaments run by Asia Rugby featuring national sevens teams. It has been held regularly since 2009 to determine Asia's best men's national team in the sport of rugby seve ...

. He usually plays at Scrum half, but due to his versatility he can also cover Fly-Half and Full-back. He was a member of the Sri Lankan Sevens team that won the Shield Championship at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

. He is the first and only Sri Lankan to compete at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

for three consecutive years.

Rugby career

Youth

At school level, he played for Isipathana College Under 17, Under 18 and Under 19 Teams respectively. He played most of his school rugby at Full-back. Thanks to his nippy footwork and pace, Soori quickly caught the attention of major Pro-Rugby Clubs in the domestic league.

CR & FC

Right after school, Srinath Sooriyabandara joined CR & FC in 2009. He quickly started making a name for himself and soon became the club's first choice at Scrum Half. He played 3 seasons at the club.

Up Country Lions

In 2013, Soori announced that he has signed with the newly formed club Up Country Lions along with several high profiled domestic rugby players. He debuted for the Up Country Lions against

Kandy Sports Club (rugby) Kandy Sports Club (better known as Kandy SC) is a Division 'A' rugby union team, based in Kandy, Sri Lanka, competing in the Dialog Rugby League. The club has been the most successful Sri Lankan club in the Sri Lanka Rugby Championship, winning ...

. In the following season, Srinath Sooriyabandara was appointed as the captain of the team and lead his team to a fourth-place finish in the Domestic Rugby League

Navy Sports Club

After the closure of Up Country Lions in 2014, Srinath Sooriyabandara moved to Navy SC. He was initially playing at Fly-Half in the place of the club's regular Fly-Half who was out injured. Once returned to his favored position, he was the club's first pick at Scrum-Half.

Kandy Sports Club

Srinath Sooriyabandara signed with the rugby powerhouse Kandy SC in 2015. He has been a regular at the club ever since.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sooriyabandara, Srinath Living people 1989 births Alumni of Isipathana College Sri Lankan rugby union players Rugby union players at the 2010 Asian Games Rugby union players at the 2014 Asian Games Rugby union players at the 2018 Asian Games Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for Sri Lanka Rugby sevens players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Asian Games competitors for Sri Lanka Sportspeople from Colombo Rugby sevens players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games