Sri Lanka to defend Asian Netball Title in Singapore

By Susil Premalal

Defending champions Sri Lanka will take on India in their 12th Asian Netball Championship opening fixture on September 3 at the OCBC Arena in Singapore.
Sri Lanka’s second Group ‘A’ preliminary round fixture will be against the Philippines on September 5.

The tournament was postponed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this time the event, conducted by the Asian Netball Federation, will be held from September 3 to 11, with the participation of 11 countries.

Group ‘B’ will include Singapore, Japan and the Maldives, Group ‘C’ will compose of Brunei, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei while Group ‘D’ will feature Hong Kong and Thailand. 
The two top nations of this tournament will qualify to participate in the 2023 Netball World Cup in South Africa.

All preliminary round fixtures will be played from September 3 to 5, second round matches from September 6 to 9, semi-finals and playoff matches on September 10 and the final on September 11.   

Sri Lanka have won the Asian Netball Championship on five occasions in 1989, 1997, 2001, 2009 and 2018.

In addition, Sri Lanka have emerged runners-up in 1985, 2012, 2014 and 2016 while securing the third place in 1993 and 2005.  
Sri Lanka defeated Singapore 69-50 in the 2018 final to emerge champions.

The schedule:

September 3: Singapore vs Japan, Sri Lanka vs India, Brunei vs Malaysia.
September 4: India vs Philippines, Chinese Taipei vs Brunei, Maldives vs Singapore, Thailand vs Hong Kong.
September 5: Malaysia vs Chinese Taipei, Japan vs Maldives, Philippines vs Sri Lanka.
September 6-9: Second round matches.
September 10: Semi-finals and playoffs.
September 11: Final.