President to present cash award to Tharjini

Yasaratne Gamage

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will give away a special award of Rs 500,000 to netball shooter Tharjini Sivalingam for her excellent performance in the recently concluded World Netball Championship, said Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage.

She will be felicitated concurrently with the opening of the new sports complex at Kilinochchi which was built at a cost of Rs 325 million tomorrow.

Tharjini who studied at Jaffna Vayawilan MMV and graduated from Batticaloa University. In 2002 Tharjani had the opportunity of being selected for the Sri Lanka National Netball Pool when the netball association launched a programme to unearth talented players from rural areas under the patronage of then Sri Lanka Netball Association Chairperson First Lady, Shiranthi Rajapaksa.

She also found employment in Seylan Bank. Tharjini succeeded in scoring 293 points from 298 attempts at the world netball championships. Tharjini who is six feet and ten inches high was the tallest netballer in the tournament. She made a huge contribution despite Sri Lanka’s setback in the tournament. She was picked as the best shooter at the world championships thus bringing honour and fame for Sri Lanka.