The Sri Lanka national netball team is the national

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

team of Sri Lanka. The team is coached by Thilaka Jinadasa and captained by

Chathurangi Jayasooriya Chathurangi Jayasooriya also spelled as Chathurangi Jayasuriya (born 10 July 1990) is a Sri Lankan netball player and the current captain of the Sri Lanka national netball team who plays in the positions of goal defense or goal keeper. She has ...

. As of 21 July 2019, Sri Lanka are ranked 18th in the world.

History

Netball was first played in Sri Lanka in 1921. The first game was played by Ceylon Girl Guide Company at Kandy High School. By 1952, Sri Lankan clubs were playing Indian club sides. In 1956, Sri Lanka played its first international match against Australia's national team in Sri Lanka. In 1963, Sri Lanka was one of eleven teams who participated in the first

Netball World Cup The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by the World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and th ...

. For Ceylon, they would finish in ninth place as they get a win over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. In 1972, the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka was created. In 1983, Netball Federation of Sri Lanka was dissolved by the government. England's record against Ceylon in international matches between 1949 and 1976 was one win. Sri Lanka took part in the 1960 Netball Meeting of Commonwealth countries to try to standardise the rules for the game. This meeting took place in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship held in 2010 in India. The Beach Netball Championship 2012 for Men and Women was held at the Beach of Catamaran Beach Hotel, Negombo. Teams from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Maldives participated in this tournament. The Sri Lanka women’s team emerged champions in this section beating the Maldivian team by 19 goals to 10.

Championships

Sri Lanka emerged the Asian region champions in the M1 Asian Netball Championships 2018 after triumphing over host Singapore 69-50 in the final played at OCBC arena, Singapore on 9 September 2018. This is the fifth time Sri Lanka had emerged as the Asian champions, the last championship won being in 2009. The side was captained by

Tharjini Sivalingam Tharjini Sivalingam (born 30 December 1978) is a former Sri Lankan veteran netball player and former skipper of the Sri Lankan national netball team. With her staggering height of 206 cm or a fraction under 6 ft 9in, she has been reco ...

, the 2.08 m goal-shooter, along with three other players in the starting XI standing over 1.8 m, played a major role in defeating the strong Singaporean side. The Malaysian Team, which Sri Lanka beat in the semi-finals emerged in third place. The captain said ''“I am really proud and happy for my coach and my team. In the last eight months, we trained very hard with our coach. We maintained good discipline, as nothing is possible without that. We stuck together and maintained our team bond – I think that is our secret to winning.”'' As the top team in the championship, Sri Lanka has automatically qualified for the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England.

Competitive record

Netball Scoop, Retrieved 03/01/2015
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Players

2015 Sri Lanka Netball World Cup Team

2019 Sri Lanka Netball World Cup Team

References

External links

IFNA: Sri Lanka
{{Sri Lanka National Teams Netball in Sri Lanka National netball teams of Asia Women's national sports teams of Sri Lanka 1956 establishments in Ceylon Sports clubs established in 1956