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Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Wednesday, 12 August 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Haitian Welmilla in Sydney Australia
The losing streak continued for Sri Lanka as they tasted another loss at the Netball World Cup 2015 when they were beaten by Fiji in a Pool H match which was played in the qualifying round here in Sydney Australia yesterday.
They suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in the World Cup as the Fijians outclassed Sri Lanka 77-31.
Fiji dominated the match right from the beginning as the Sri Lankans showed negligible resistance. They could not understand the playing style of the Fijians.
They got a very good opportunity to study Fiji yesterday when Fiji played against Zambia soon after Sri Lanka played South Africa. But it was surprise to see none of the team members including the officials wanted to witness the match between Fiji and Zambia as they left the stadium in a hurry. Witnessing the match between Fiji and Zambia would have helped the Sri Lankans to better challenge their opponents.
The Lankans lost the first quarter 19-7. All other three quarters were dominated by the Fijians, who won them 16-8, 19-8 and 23-8, to beat Sri Lanka. Unouna Rusivakalua and Unaisi Rauluni did most of the damage to Sri Lanka, scoring 32 and 30 goals respectively while Tarima Mitchel scored the balance.
Hasitha Mendis (18), Semini Alwis (10) Dharshika Abeywickrama (2) and Thisala Algama (1) kept the scoreboard ticking for the Lankans.
The Sri Lankans will play two more matches in the competition with Barbados and Scotland and they will meet Scotland on 12 August at 12.20 pm local time ( 7.50 a.m. Sri Lankan time) and Barbados on 13 August at 4.20 local time (11.50 a.m. Sri Lankan time).
The main attentions of the day were the games between New Zealand and Jamaica (Pool E) and Australia and England (Pool F) and matches played at the Allpohones Arena.
In the other matches played in the qualification round yesterday, Samoa beat Singapore 46-39 in a Pool G match and Zambia suffered a 66-39 defeat to Trinidad and Tobago in the same group.
The Malawi Queens recorded a thrilling 59-53 win over Uganda in their Pool E match. It was a tough battle between Barbados and Scotland in Pool H, with Scotland pulling off a thrilling 37-34 win.
The top eight teams have been drawn into two pools, E and F, while the balance have been listed in Pool G and H for the qualifying stage.
Malawi, Uganda, Jamaica and New Zealand will compete in Pool E and South Africa, Wales, Australia and England will fight for supremacy in Pool F.
Trinidad and Tobago, Samoa, Singapore and Zambia will play each other in Pool G and Sri Lanka, Fiji, Barbados and Scotland are drawn into Pool H.
After the qualifying round, the Netball World Cup will reach its semi finals and playoffs.
New Zealand’s Silver Ferns took yet another step forward in their Netball World Cup journey yesterday as they beat the strong Jamaican outfit by 55 goals to 48 in a qualifying Pool E match.
The Jamaicans lost their unbeaten record in the tournament and will meet the Malawi Queens today. Hosts and titleholders the Australian Diamonds survived an English attack in a Pool F qualifying match to stay favourites. The Diamonds recorded a thrilling 51-41 victory. They will meet South Africa today.
