Sri Lanka to face tough challenge in 2019 Netball World Cup

By Hishan Welmilla

The Asian netball queens Sri Lanka will face a tough challenge in the 2019 Netball World Cup which will unfold in Liverpool, England from 12-21 July.

Sri Lanka will have a challenging clash over in Group A against top-ranked Australia, the reigning champions, and will also face debutants Zimbabwe and Northern Island.

The Zimbabwe team are one to watch as first time qualifiers in next year’s tournament, ranking second to Uganda in the NWC2019 Regional Qualifier – Africa last month.

The draw for the 16-team tournament took place at England Netball’s annual volunteer recognition event, the Vitality Goalden Globes Awards, held in Nottingham. It has confirmed all the teams and fixtures, across the four groups, for the first phase of the new format competition (Preliminaries Stage One).

New format

In February the International Netball Federation announced a new format for the World Cup, which will see teams compete in three stages: the Preliminaries Stage One from 12-14 July, the Preliminaries Stage Two from 15-18 July and the Play-offs and Placings matches from 19-21 July.

In the second stage of the competition, the top three teams from groups A and B will form group F, and the top three teams from groups C and D will form group G. The bottom four finishers from groups A-D will compete for 13th-16th places in group E.

Where teams in groups F and G have already played each other in the Preliminaries Stage One (i.e. A1 has already played A2 and A3), these results will carry through to the Preliminaries Stage Two.

The teams finishing first and second in groups F and G will go through to the semi-finals, with the top placed team in each group facing the second placed team in the other group. The winners of each semi-final will compete for gold in the final, with the losers playing for bronze.

The teams finishing third and fourth in groups F and G will compete for final positions fifth to eighth – third in one group plays fourth in the other – with the winners playing off for fifth place and the losers for seventh. The teams that finish fifth in groups F and G will play off for ninth and 10th places. The teams that finish last in groups F and G will play off for 11th and 12th places. The top two teams from group E will play off for 13th and 14th place and the bottom two teams will play off for 15th and 16th place.

Sri Lanka qualified to the Netball World Cup after crowning the Asian Championship along with runner up Singapore.

Sri Lankans will meet Zimbabwe as their first outing in the Preliminaries Stage One groups matches on 12 July on the opening day, followed by Northern Island (13 July) and the defending champions Australia (14 July).

The countries in the Group A are also expecting Sri Lanka to perform well in the event.

“We have to be happy with tonight’s draw – obviously all the teams who’ve qualified are going to be good and we want to be playing against the best, like Australia who we faced at the Commonwealth Games. We were up against Sri Lanka in the last World Cup and they’re tough to play against. Their shooter is really tall and she’s just come back into the fold, which is having a significant positive impact on their results. We know what their style is, it’s just tough to stop them going ahead and doing it. We don’t know anything about Zimbabwe but they’re an up and coming team, which is exciting,” commenting on their Group A fixtures, Northern Ireland’s captain, Caroline O’Hanlon, said.

Sri Lanka’s preparation 

The Sri Lankan team expect to begin their training from 23 October with Thilaka Jinadasa who has been allowed to continue as the coach by the Minister of Sports Faiszer Musthapha. The Ministry of Sports instructed the Sri Lanka Netball Federation to offer Jinadasa a contract until the next Asian Championship in 2020.

According to the Coach they intend selecting a pool for the World Cup in January and also expect to play against few international fixtures before the World Cup to gain much needed exposure.

“We have to again pick a pool for the World Cup by January next year. It may not be the same pool that won the Asia Cup. We need to provide other players to prove themselves and open the doors to get in to the selection in order to get the best team for the World Cup as it is so challenging.

“I hope to play two pre-competitive tournaments with some regional sides by March or April. Then we have planned to play against an African side and a European side as well,” Thilaka said.

Rifts in netball continuous 

Meanwhile the Association of Netball Coaches says that the appointment of Thilaka Jinadasa as the National Coach by the Minister of Sports till 2020 is against the Constitution of the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka. 

The President of the Association of Netball Coaches Hyacinth Wijesinghe says a recommendation should be obtained at the Council meeting of the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka to extend the contract and appoint Thilaka Jinadasa as the National Coach and then it should be forwarded for the Minister’s approval. 

“We are not against the appointment of Thilaka as the National Coach at this juncture but it should be done in the proper way according to the Constitution,” said Wijesinhe. 

She pointed out that a similar situation arose in 2001 when she was given the extension till the World Cup after winning the Asian Championship by the then Minister of Sports but it was turned down indicating it was against the Constitution by then President of Netball Federation of Sri Lanka Trixi Nanayakkara, who obliged the Minister’s directions this time citing no Constitutional issues on same.