Lanka’s Netball coach not convinced
Tamara Liyanage (2nd R) was the coach when Sri Lanka won the Youth Asian title two years back
Tamara Liyanage, Coach of the Sri Lanka Youth Netball team to South Korea to take part in the Tenth Asian Youth Netball Championships from May 6 to 13, says that she is not fully satisfied with the team entrusted to her.
“It was the Sri Lanka Netball Selection Committee which handed over the team to me. Nevertheless I am doing my best to train the team. In 2015, Sri Lanka emerged champions at the 9th Asian Youth Netball Championships held in Hong Kong. This paved the way for Sri Lanka to take part at the World Youth Netball Championships to be held in Botswana from July 8 to 16.
“This was the first time after 13 years that Sri Lanka was able to win an Asian Youth title.
“Unexpectedly two good players had gone out of the team. As a result I had to change my training plans. One is a centre and wing-attack has been named as a stand-bye. The other is a wing-attacker and goal attacker who is not amongst the standbys even. This is a big set-back for me.
“My main aim is to bring the team into the semi-finals. After that I will concentrate on the finals. I expected to train the team for at least three months. But I got only a 44 day training schedule. I also expected the national team to take part in about 15 practice games. But to date we haven’t got the chance to play even a single practice match. My struggle now is to compete with time. I am faced with a big challenge whether I will be able to give Sri Lanka the championship this time”, she concluded.
The Asian Netball Association has published the match schedule for the 10th Asian Netball Championships. Ten teams are in the fray. Brunei and Japan who took part in the last Asian Championships are missing. The Groupings are as follows: Group A – Sri Lanka, Thailand, Pakistan, Maldives and Hong Kong. Group B – Malaysia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, India and South Korea.
Sri Lanka will play their first match on May 6 against Thailand. On May 8 against Pakistan, May 9 against Maldives, May 10 vs Hong Kong. The semi-finals will be on May 12 and the finals on May 13.
According to Liyanage, the strongest team in Group A is Hong Kong as they were placed fourth in 2015 and will be a big threat to Sri Lanka. There are 11 experienced players in the Hong Kong outfit. Sri Lanka’s greatest challenge will be against Hong Kong.
The Sri Lanka team is currently undergoing residential training at the Jayatilleke Stadium in Nawalapitiya. They will have a brief break from April 12 to 16 due to the Sinhala New Year. After that training will continue until the end of April.
On May 2 the Sri Lanka team plans to emplane to South Korea.