Sri Lanka beat Hong Kong 46-32 to finish in third place at the Asian Junior Netball Championship in South Korea yesterday.
The Sri Lanka team thrived through a good combination of Bashi Udagedera and Dilmi Wijenayayake while skipper Sajini Ratnayake was out from the playing seven yesterday and it was a hard work-out for success according to team manager Vajira Pushpakumari.
“Our coach Amalka Gunatilleka was more concerned after losing games to Singapore and Malaysia and finally we had a good combination against Hong Kong yesterday for a most wanted win in great style,” said Pushpakumari.
In the first set both sides played it well but Sri Lanka won a thrilling 11-10 contest while in the second set Sri Lanka came back harder to win 21-17.
Sri Lanka won the third set 34-27 and made it 46-32 in the fourth and final quarter thanks to some good passes.
The victory paved the way for Sri Lanka to qualify for the World Junior Netball Championship in New Zealand. “We did not have experienced players but managed to get third place and it’s a good achievement”, said Pushpakumari.
“The players had many challenges but they finally finished third to qualify for the World Junior Netball Championship”.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka Netball president Victoria Lakshmi was elected president of the Asian Netball Federation at the AGM held in South Korea on Thursday.