Dialog National Netball Championship to commence this December

From left: NFSL Secretary Champa Gunawardane, Dialog Axiata Senior General Manager – Brand and Media Harsha Samaranayake, NFSL President Victoria Lakshmi and Treasurer Padmini Horanage 

Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, Dialog Axiata PLC, continuing its promise of developing sports in Sri Lanka has come forth once again to power the Dialog National Netball Championship for the second consecutive year.

The national tournament will be played from 14 to 15 December, at the Anuradhapura Mahajana Kreedanganaya. This is the major tournament conducted by Netball Federation of Sri Lanka (NFSL) annually, to identify talented players, coaches and umpires to train them to the next level.

Ahead of the national tourney, the Dialog Junior National Netball Championship 2019, will competed from 30 November to 2 December, at Torrington Grounds, Colombo-7, to develop the talent pool to feed the national squad in the future. Netball players who are below the age of 21 from across the country will participate at the junior tourney. 

The preliminary round of the junior tournaments will be played in a league structure with 20 minutes per game, split into two halves which will narrow down the 36 teams to 16, while round two onwards the tournament will be played on knockout basis. Third place matches and the finals will be played with 40 minutes per game split into four segments.

“Netball as a sport has benefitted immensely with the commencement of the Dialog National Netball Championship last year, as players from across the country now have an opportunity to display their talent and skills,” Lakshmi Victoria NFSL President Lakshmi Victoria. “I take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to Dialog Axiata for extending their support in 2019 as well. Without corporate backing the Netball Federation would find it almost impossible to hold tourneys of this magnitude.” 

“As a leading promoter of sports in Sri Lanka, Dialog Axiata is honoured to have partnered with the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka to host a tourney that will nurture and select players that will don the Sri Lanka jersey in future,” Dialog Axiata Brand and Media – Group Marketing Senior General Manager Harsha Samaranayake said. 

“The national netball team has made immense strides in the recent past and I’m sure tourneys such as this will continue to discover future talent that will consistently improve the competitiveness of the national team at an international level. I wish the Dialog National Netball Championship all the very best.” 

Dialog Axiata is the proud sponsor of the Sri Lankan National Cricket, Rugby, Volleyball and Netball teams. The company also has a close association with the President’s Gold Cup volleyball, National Junior and Senior Netball tourneys, Premier Football, Schools’ Cricket, and Paralympic sports – by powering the Army Para Games, National Para Games and the Sri Lankan contingent to the Olympic and World Paralympic Games.