SL will struggle to retain Asian netball crown – Jinadasa

By Susil Premalal  

Sri Lanka’s current administration crisis is certain to make a huge impact in the performance of the national team at the upcoming Asian Senior Netball Championships, former Sri Lanka Coach Tilaka Jinadasa revealed yesterday.  

The current Consultant Netball Coach of Brunei said that Sri Lanka will struggle to maintain their number one position in Asia at this event, which will be held from October 17 to 28 in Bengaluru, India.  

Jinadasa, who spearheaded the Sri Lanka Netball Team to Asian champions twice said that Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have already obtained a great amount of international exposure while targeting the Asian Senior Netball Championships.   

In contrast, the Sri Lanka Netball Squad is yet to gain any kind of international exposure ahead of the event despite several promises from the former netball administration and the sports ministry.  

“It is common for a national team to obtain international experience ahead of an important tournament but unfortunately, I don’t see it happening in Sri Lanka,” Jinadasa lamented.  
“Sri Lanka have already lost the services of their key player at several international events, Tharjini Sivalingam, and it will be a tough task for them to retain the Asia number one spot,” she added.   

Jinadasa said that the Brunei Netball Team had the opportunity of playing in a few practice matches against Sri Lankan Club Teams in preparation for the Asian Senior Netball Championships.   

Jinadasa, who is on a two-year stint with Brunei, said that her main goal is to bring the national team to the top four in Asia having started playing the game in 2012.   
Brunei are currently in sixth place in the Asian Netball Rankings and their government have launched a massive development programme along with the ministry of sports to raise their standards.