Thilaka and Hyacinth in line to be SL Netball Coach

By Susil Premalal

 Two veteran coaches and Hyacinth Wijesinghe have applied for the vacant position of Sri Lanka Netball Coach for the period of 2022.

The applications for this post closed on December 22 and the Sri Lanka Netball Federation (SLNF) will name the new coach shortly targeting the 2022 Asian Championships, Secretary SLNF Kumuduni Gomes told the Daily Mirror yesterday.

Meanwhile, Somitha de Alwis’ term as the current national coach from June, 2020 will expire on December 31, 2021.  Somitha was appointed by the previous SLNF regime targeting the Asian Championships in South Korea, which was however cancelled  due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka have won two Asian Championships under the guidance of Jinadasa, who was also in charge of the team when the island nation won the previous title in 2009 and 2018 in Singapore. She has also experience in having coached two national teams Maldives and Brunei.

Wijesinghe is a former Sri Lanka Captain and is an international coach having handled the Singapore National Team as well. She was also in charge of the team when the island nation won the previous title in 2001 in Colombo.

The SLNF will conduct interviews to select the new coach in early January and the national pool training will commence by the end of next month.