Thilaka out to make ‘em netball champs
Leslie Fernando
A 30-member national netball pool selected by the Interim Committee
of the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka has begun training under the
senior national coach Thilaka Jinadasa at the Sports Ministry grounds,
Torrington Square.
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Thilaka Jinadasa |
The netballers are preparing and training for the Asian Netball
Championship in June in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
pool players
The pool players are Dharshika Abeywickrema, Erandi Rajapakse, Gayani
Dissanayake, Harshani Wijayalath, P.K.S. Niluksha, Chapa Galappatthi,
Samurdhi Abeygunawardena, Nilumi Gunasekera, Venuri Ranasinghe, Yamuna
Amarasinghe, Manduli Pathirage, Marisha Fernando, Hansi Bandara,
Sanjeevani Madushika, Semani Alwis, Surani Silva, Tharshani Sivalingam,
Shanika Dilshani, Sanduni Bollegala, Ishara Harshani, Iresha Koralge,
Prisaila Koch, Vasundara Pathirage, Shashika Samarasinghe, Chamila
Jayawardena, Gayathri Lankatilake, Akila Jayawardena, R.P.M. Ruwanlekha,
P.P. Udani, Shanika Erangi.
double international
Thilaka Jinadasa, former CMS Kotte and Sri Lanka athlete and
netballer - a double international said that she was appointed as the
Senior National Coach by the Interim Committee of Netball Federation of
Sri Lanka headed by Mrs. Ajantha Wijesekera and her aim is to make a
champion outfit.
Thilaka Jinadasa employed at Ceylinco Group said that amongst the 30
players selected, there are several senior and junior national players.
They started practical. First it was the fitness test of the poolists as
this was a key factor in any sport.
basic skills
The poolists have all the basic skills and they will be afforded the
opportunity to prove their capabilities.
Thilaka who was a member of the 1997 Asian winning team said that by
end of February, the pool will be pruned down to 21 and the final 15
players will be named at the end of March. She said that Sri Lanka does
not have any problems with shooters and centre court players. But the
Lankans must improve more in the goal keeping area with tall and
stronger players.
assistance
She added that the netballers were assured of all support and
assistance from Gamini Lokuge, Minister of Sports and Public Recreation
when he addressed the poolists on day one of the training sessions. Sri
Lanka has achieved success winning Asian netball title twice, first in
1997 and then again in 2001 in Colombo. We should strike hard to win the
title for the third time.
The defending champions Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong,
India, Pakistan, Maldives and Sri Lanka will participate in the Asian
netball championships conducted by the Malaysian Netball Federation in
association with the Asian Netball Federation.
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