Panmure Tamil Vidyalaya hold Zahira, Gampola to a draw

S M Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Correspondent

Panmure Tamil Vidyalaya, Hatton held Zahira College, Gampola to a scoreless in their schools Singer Shield under 19 Division three rugby tournament match played at Darrawela last Thursday. T S P Karunaratne refereed.

According to reports, this match attracted a very large crowd as Panmure Tamil Vidyalaya which was once an Estate school within Abbotsleigh Group was playing its first ever tournament game having been introduced to rugby by former Dickoya Maskeliya cricket club winger R Wimaleswaran through the efforts of the Central Province Rugby Football Union during the tenure of office as President by Mohan Samarakoon.

Coach Wimaleswaran himself is a Factory officer attached to Abbotsleigh Group and he has taken pains to introduce rugby to at least six Plantation schools which augurs well for the future of the game.

The Secretary of the CPRFU Anil Jayasinghe said that efforts will be made to promote this game both in Hatton and Nuwara Eliya in a big way.

Though Hatton which is in the plantation district of Dickoya and Nuwara Eliya in the plantation District of Dimbula were the pioneers of club rugby in the Central Province but it had no base as they played by expatriate planters from rugby playing schools mostly from Colombo and Kandy.