Asian Netball Championships:

Lankans in record win

Beat Nepal 127-3:

Yasaratne GAMAGE

In an uncompetitive one hour of quality netball, Sri Lankan team scored a record number of points to crush Nepal by 127-3 in the first game on the third day of the Asian Netball Championships at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday. Captain and goal shooter Tharjini Sivalingam and Thisala Algama each scored 58 goals while goal keeper Semini Alwis shot 11 goals to give the hosts a 124 lead against Nepal.

Excellent start

It was their third consecutive victory after having outplayed Hong Kong and Maldives earlier in the tournament. Nepal scored only two goals in the first quarter and one in the last quarter yesterday. Sri Lanka on the other hand came with a handful of goals in each of the quarters. From the first minute of the game Tharjini was seen standing at the opponent goal where she kept on scoring goal after goal. Nepal took 10 minutes to score their first goal when the score board read 11 in favour of Sri Lanka. Nepalese goal shooter S Thapa and goal attacker Mala Limbu scored a goal each. The first quarter ended 28-2.

No mercy

During the second quarter, Semini joined Tharjini in the parade and scored five goals out of six attempts. Tharjini scored 30 out of her 39 attempts while Nepalese were seen making a lot of mistakes in passing and catching the ball. Centre, co captain Gayathri and wing attacker Samanthi Nilushika were so quick and made sure the ball reach Tharjini and Semini as quickly as possible.

The hosts also showed excellent skills in blocking and intercepting their opponents. They grabbed the ball tactically in many occasions that passed on to Tharjini and then in the net. Sri Lanka led the second quarter 62-2.

Thisala Algama who replaced Tharjini in the third quarter continued the same fashion and scored another 58 by the final whistle.

Semini shot two in the third quarter and got all her four attempts successful in the last quarter. Wing defense Maneesha Fernando did an excellent job running out all the time and hopping around to pass the ball.

She was acrobatic and lively. This made other players a need to respond quickly which was seen as the huge difference between the two teams except for the height. Nepalese Limbu managed to score a goal in the last quarter too.

So much to learn

As a whole Nepalese did not play attacking netball against Sri Lankans and lacked both techniques and physical height to challenge their opponents.

They some times deceived Sri Lankan defense well, but did not make use of the opportunities.

Sri Lankans, on the other hand, played basics, committed less mistakes and more than anything else they were energetic through out the hour.

Their playing style was different from how they played on the previous day against India. This is commendable on the part of the coach and the captains. Sri Lanka will meet Japan today at 11am.