Mauled on the court, the Lankan shooters learn a bitter lesson
Netball is gradually drifting away from its identity as a ladylike sport stated former national netball player turned coach Yasa Ramachandra. She made this observation after her recent visit to Hong Kong with the Sri Lanka netball team in an official capacity. The tour was however reported as an unsuccessful assignment by netball experts, but in reality Sri Lanka had a disastrous tour with many of their players sustaining injuries.
Yasa Ramachandra
“It’s highly disappointing to see how physical netball has become today. It was a recent development and there are only two options left for us, join them or beat them,” Ramachandra told the Sunday Times on her remarks as the chairperson of the selection committee of Sri Lanka Netball Federation.
The tour, earmarked as part of development activities of Sri Lanka Netball Federation, was a Tri-Nation Tournament which included Sri Lanka, Malaysia and host Hong Kong. But unfortunately many players from the Sri Lankan squad had to face injuries with two of them being forced to return on wheelchairs after the reckless play tactics the oppositions, in particular the hosts Hong Kong had played. In addition the first game where Sri Lanka lost to Hong Kong owing to deliberate errors concocted by the match officials, Ramachandra claimed.
“Sri Lanka led that game until the final few minutes. It was surprising to see the clock being shut down and the scoreboard left unattended with the scoreline of the first few minutes. This went on even after official complaints but I could not stand it anymore after I felt these were deliberately done to favour the home team. So I decided to walk up and protest but that too went unheard, and all of a sudden they blew the final whistle and announced that Hong Kong had won the game” Ramachandra, a double national who played netball and volleyball for Sri Lanka revealed.
Explaining a doubt on the reason to overlook the regular set of players as the chairperson of the netball selectors, Ramachandra said that her committee decided to pick a second string team with the intention of giving them the much needed exposure.
Sri Lanka had a disastrous tour of Hong Kong with many players sustaining injuries
“We took a second string team with the aim preparing our players for the Asian Championship to be played soon. But what we had to experience there was totally unexpected. Sri Lanka has the reputation of a genuine team from other international sides and I suppose others took that for granted or someone had led those who committed these types of acts has read the rule books thoroughly before finding its own loopholes,” stated Ramachandra, who made it a point that lessons learnt from the tour should be taken positively.
The Sri Lanka netball officials had then refused to field their team for the rest of the tournament. By the time they came to this conclusion Sri Lanka had already two defeats against Malaysia and Hong Kong. Also they had lost half of its team due to injuries. The tournament officials after taking to note of the gravity of the situation had made an official apologies and pleaded the Sri Lanka team to remain.
Sri Lanka’s third game however was played with a combination of Hong Kong players against Malaysia with many of them suffering from injuries. In the final match Sri Lanka had fielded its full side and had returned to beat Hong Kong with a good deficit. The lasses had impressed as a promising side as Sri Lanka’s Thisala Algama claimed the best player of the competition award. But Ramachandra was of the view that the time has come for Sri Lanka to make a complete overhaul of its playing style.
“We have been known internationally for our style of play. Netball is a game where players can contest for possession of the ball. You cannot make physical contacts in a cruel manner. It was like watching our girls play a game of rugby with netball rules and we were made to look like amateurs. I think it’s better to teach the girls some of these changes, while making an official request to the world governing body to reconsider the current rules and make them player-friendly. Being ready to take the challenge either way will be the only solution,” Ramachandra stated while insisting that the local netball body should host a few international teams to ready the girls for the Asian challenge.