Tharjini stands tall

Angu Rajendran

”She is extremely shy and won’t pick up any calls from strangers,” said Sri Lanka Netball Association Vice President Kumudini Gomes when asked for the Netball Queen Tharjini Sivalingam’s telephone number. Tharjini is Asia’s tallest netball player at six feet nine inches.

She had to be coaxed and begged to give an interview but after informing her mentor and coach Thilaka Jinadasa of Seylan Bank, Tharjini finally consented. “I have great regard for my coach Ms Thilaka,” she said. “I cannot refuse her anything. She gave me a new lease of life with netball,” she said gratefully.

Tharjini grew up in Jaffna with her four brothers and one sister and was extremely embarrassed by her height while going to school to Visalam Central College. Often she had to bend over while getting into a bus. Her mother was very worried by the unnatural height of this daughter. And Tharjini suffered in silence.

But her life was changed when The National Netball coach Thilaka Jinadasa spotted Tharjini who was playing netball for Batticaloa Eastern University during the year 2004. With her height she was naturally the choice for the position of GS - Goal Shooter.

Any netball team would kill to get a player of this height. She was selected for the National team. Thilaka Jinadasa helped Tharjini get a job at Seylan Bank who is her current sponsor. The Minister of Sports has also recognized the inherent talent in this tallest Tamil girl and has found sponsorships for her.

Since the year 2005, Tharjini who with outstretched arms is hardly a few inches away from the ten feet high netball ring has even achieved a 100 percent shooting rate at the semi finals of the Asian Championships held at Malaysia last year.

This is no mean achievement for a girl who just started playing netball barely five years ago. Incidentally Sri Lanka were the proud winners of this International netball championships.

Tharjini lives in Colombo. “My whole family (including my brothers) are all normal in height. Only I am unnaturally tall,” says Tharjini who is famous throughout the island for the success and glory that she has brought to Sri Lanka.

The only Tamil on the National team, Tharjini was instrumental in Sri Lanka winning many an International Netball championship.

Her coach is confident when the ball reaches Tharjini’s hands. “With her height, she is veritably impossible to defend.”

At the recent Open tournament held in Trincomalee, Tharjini was for the first time awarded ‘The Netball Queen’ of the tournament. She is very elated with that award. “I have been awarded Best Shooter in every tournament that I have played,” she says “but for the first time I have been awarded the Netball Queen.”

There was almost no choice in this selection. Using her height, Tharjini made sure that almost every time that the ball was in the attacking side, it was a shot. Accounting for almost 100 percent of the shots her team made Tharjini Sivalingam deserves every award that comes to her.

Tharjini Sivalingam is the only Tamil member of the national team and has won the hearts of her team over with the confidence that she plays the game and serves to unite our country through sports.

Tharjini Sivalingam

Education: Visalam Central College, Jaffna
Eastern University, Batticaloa

Height : 2.06m