Sri Lanka defends title; crowned Asian Netball champs for sixth time

Sri Lanka Netball team crowned as Queens of Asia by beating Singapore 63-53 in a hard-fought final played in Singapore. Dialog Axiata is the official sponsor of the National Netball Team since 2018

Sri Lanka were crowned Asian Netball champions for the sixth time when they defeated Singapore by 63 goals to 53 in the final played at Singapore on Sunday.

In a rematch of the 2018 final, three-time winners Singapore looked set to end their eight-year trophy drought as they came out firing from the start. But defending champions Sri Lanka rallied to outscore Singapore 14-11 in the first quarter. At half time however the hosts held on to a 30-27 lead.

The third quarter was the turning point as Sri Lanka tightened their defence forcing errors from Singapore and limiting their attackers to just eight goals.

Sri Lanka’s 2.06m tall shooter Tharjini Sivalingam made the difference with her height scoring 19 goals as Sri Lanka took the lead 46-38 at the end of the third quarter.

In a tense final quarter, both teams brought their A game into play with Sri Lanka’s shooters succeeding in netting 17 goals to Singapore’s 15. But the overall gap proved far too big for Singapore to catch up and Sri Lanka prevailed to win 63-53.

Both teams have qualified for the 2023 World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.

Malaysia finished third out of 11 teams after beating Hong Kong 54-42 in the play-off. The Philippines won the Plate division while India won the lowest-tier Bowl title. The biennial event returned for the first time since 2018 after the 2020 edition in South Korea was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Sri Lanka coach Hyacinth Wijesinghe said the win gave the players and the country something to celebrate amid the nation’s economic crisis.

She noted that the team has not had a smooth build-up to the Asian tournament as they were unable to go on an exposure tour before a major tournament for the first time. Sometimes she said they had to train in the dark when the power supply at their facility was disrupted.

“I must salute the girls, they really did their best and I think the country will be very happy,” she said.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe congratulated the Sri Lankan netball team who were unbeaten in the tournament.