Sri Lanka produced a bulldozing performance to rout Chinese Taipei by 137 points to 5 on the opening day of the Asian Netball Championship in Singapore yesterday.
Sri Lanka scored 37 points to Taipei’s two points in the first quarter and added another 37 points without conceding any in the second quarter to end the first half at 74-2.
Sri Lanka heaped up more misery on their opponents in the third quarter with a further 32 points while giving away two points and then wrapped up the match with 31 more points to Taipei’s two points.
Sri Lanka will meet India in their final group match today at 12.30 pm Sri Lanka time.
In the opening match of the tournament, host Singapore bagged their first win beating Brunei 68-19 followed by Malaysia beating Japan 88-13.
Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Maldives, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippines, India, Brunei and Japan are contesting the championship held for the 11th time.
Sri Lanka is captained by the experienced Chathurangi Jayasuriya while her deputy is Darshika Abeywickrema.
Former junior national player Dulangi Wannithilake has made her way into the senior team for the first time along with the most experienced player Tharjini Sivalingam and another player from the northern region Elilenthini Sethukavalar. Gayanjali Amarawansa, Hasitha Mendis, Dulanga Dhananji, Darshika Abeywickrema, Thilini Wattegedara, Sureka Kumari Gamage and Gayani Dissanayake were all part of the team that played in the 2016 Asian Championship in which Sri Lanka finished as runners-up in Thailand.