Nimal Lewke - boxer and ruggerite par excellence
S M Jiffrey Abdeen, Kandy Sports Correspondent
Senior Deputy Inspector General of Wayamba Province Nimal Lewke is
one of the most outstanding sportsman to come out of the portals of St
Sylvester’s College, Kandy - a school which is reputed for its prowess
at boxing producing a large number of national boxers.
Nimal Lewke |
Nimal Lewke is a multi-faceted sportsman though well known in the
field of rugby, a sport which he did not play in school as the
Sylvestrians did not have a rugby team at that time, he also excelled at
boxing, cricket, hockey and athletics.
At school Nimal Lewke hit the top spot in boxing following the
footsteps of famous boxers like the Bulner brothers, Gunasinghe
brothers, Lloyd Hope, Marshall, Elsworth Perera, Bulltjens, Herathge
just to name a few who went on to represent the country.
They were all products of legendary boxing coach late Derek Raymond
who instilled science, skills and the killer instinct on the boxers
which flustered the opponents.
At school and later at the national and international level Nimal
Lewke was a stylish south paw and his left hooks carried the lethal blow
and he combined this with fine foot work. It was all grace, style and
flurry of punches which rattled his opponents.
Perhaps one of his best bouts was in 1969 at the then Colombo Schools
Vs Outstation Schools annual boxing contest held at St. Sylvester’s
College Hall, Kandy. Outstation schools which had in its folders boxers
from S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, St. Sylvester’s College and
Peradeniya Central College had to face the might of Colombo Schools.
Nimal Lewke was advised by his coach Derek Raymond to fight in the
upper weight class to form a good team and he was also further
instructed to fight the Best Boxer at the Stubbe Shield H. D. R.
Jayaweera of Carey College who was a stylist and sent shivers among his
opponents.
That was not all, the coach Derek Raymond wanted the bout between
Nimal Lewke and H. D. R. Jayaweera to be the last fight for the evening
to provide the climax to the boxing championship. When both boxers
entered the ring the scores were deadlocked at 7 wins each and this
fight was going to be crucial as the winner will tilt the championship
title towards his side.
The referee was Mahasen Welwitigoda of the Navy and he had his hands
full and what a fight it turned out to be. Lewke started with a
crunching blow with his right and followed with a beautiful double punch
to the stomache and jaw which saw his gain the lead in the first round.
But Jayaweera came back fighting to probably win the second round
displaying his fine infighting qualities.
Then came the decisive third round which would decide the fate of the
contest and also the championship title. Derek Raymond a Dutch Burgher
who normally speaks in English, this time spoke to Lewke in Sinhala and
said “Mey rouma pissu ballek wage elawanna”.
Lewke did just that and Lewke turned winner and the Outstation
Schools won the annual championship 8 - 7. Nimal Lewke was adjudged the
“Best Boxer” and Jayaweera the “Best Loser”. Nimal Lewke went on to win
the national championship and also boxed for the country.
Nimal Lewke was also a fine left arm spinner capturing 69 wickets
during the season and during the goodwill tour of the Jaffna Peninsula
he captured 22 wickets.
This was at the time the schools bowling averages were dominated by
schoolboy bowlers from Kandy like Glen Vanlangberg (Trinity), H. S.
Ranaweera (Trinity), Nimal Rajakaruna (St. Sylvesters), Christopher Sins
(St. Anthony’s) just to name few.
Nimal Lewke cut his teeth at rugby at Kandy Sports Club under late
General Denzil Kobbekaduwa who had Maurice Perera as their coach. He
later played for Police and later captained their team with great
success to win the triple championship. He was also adjudged as the
police sportsman of the year in 1980. He also represented the country
with distinction.
In rugby he was the national coach, President of the SLRFU, President
of the Asian Rugby Football Union and the President of the Referees. It
was during his tenure as the rugby coach of Kandy Sports Club that the
hill capital club first won the triple crown. People will always
remember him in his role not only in the field of sports but in the
battle field leading the elite STF in the East. |