Gayanjali Amarawansa the experienced player from HNB who is leading the Sri Lanka Netball team said they have good preparation for the Asian Netball championship which will commence on September 3 in Singapore.
The 12 member team comprised with most senior player 6 foot 11 inches tall Thajani Shivalingam who was away in Australia for league Netball and she will return to Singapore directly to join the Sri Lanka team. The team left last Tuesday while they are ready to play first practice game against Thailand today at the OCBC Arena, Singapore.
These practice matches are very important to adjust to the conditions before the tournament. We have senior players who captained the National side earlier. Chaturangi Jayasuriya who captained the side to take Asian crown last time 2018, Semini de Alwis, Gayani Dissanayake, Tharjani Shivalingam who is the tallest goal shooter. She was the most successful goal shooter at the last tournament and this time too we expect more from her.
Gayanjali the product from Kandy high school and Deputy Skipper Dulangi Wannitilleka the former Holy Family Convent Kurunegala player now attached to the HNB have the services of senior players as well as juniors.
Sri Lankan skipper Gayanjali Amarawansa is confident that her team will put up a good show and return victorious at the Asian Netball Championship which will run from September 3-11 at the OCBC Arena, Singapore.
“We were preparing from January and the team is in good shape. We got a strong squad with eight experienced players and four newcomers. We are the defending champions and as a team our main priority is to defend the title at any cost,” said skipper Gayanjali prior to departure. Our coach Hyacinth Wijesinghe and the staff as well as Netball Federation headed by Victoria Lakshmi give good support to build up our skills.
. Our team work is very good and commitment is very high. Sri Lanka team last time played in the international arena back in 2019 during the World Cup in England under the leadership of Chaturangi Jayasuriya while Tharjani, Gayani, Dulangi, Gayanjali and Hasitha Mendis were there and all these players have good experience. As a skipper I will play my first international tournament here in Singapore but this venue is nothing new to most of our senior players.
Sri Lanka lasses will take the field as favourites to win the tournament based on their past record of having won this tournament most number of times (5) in 1989, 1997, 2001, 2009 and 2018.
The eleven teams will compete at this Asian Netball Championship and they are defending champs Sri Lanka, 2018 runner-up Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Japan, India, Philippines and Maldives.The top two will gain automatic qualification to the 2023 Netball World Cup and Sri Lanka team always in good preparation to win the title .
Actually Sri Lanka is in the same group with India and Philippines while the first match against India will be played on September 3. “We have to go match by match and have group match against Philippines on September 5 and first target is to finish top of the group. Leadership is little bit pressure for me but I knew all senior former skippers give their maximum support”.
Meanwhile the President of the Netball Federation and the team met Sport Minister last Monday and he gave instructions to Sports Ministry Secretary Dr Amal Harsha de Silva to get necessary action to fulfill the requirements of the Netball team. He also pointed out there was some issues about the final team. Selections and everything was settled and focus only to retain the Asian Crown. The Minister also gave instructions to increase the food allowance for the players during this tour.
The Netball Federation President Victoria Lakshmi who also the Vice President of the Asian Netball Federation is likely to retain her post at the AGM which will be held during the Asian Netball Championship in Singapore.The president of the Netball Victoria said Sports Minister gave a motivation speech to the team and came forward to fulfill the requirements of the team.
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