Sri Lanka crash to 4th place as Singapore win title
View(s):Asian Youth Netball Championship 2017
Pathum Sri Wijeratne reporting from Gongju, South KoreaÂ
Sri Lanka crashed down to fourth position after suffering a 49-58 defeat against Hong Kong in the Third Place Playoff on the final day of the Asian Youth Netball Championship at the Hwasan Sradiun in Gongju, South Korea yesterday. Sri Lanka, the defending champions, faced a dramatic setback in this year’s competition which was evident after their early loss to low-ranked Thailand in the first round for the first time in history.
The team had issues of their own from the controversy of the captaincy to a team official, who acted highhandedly above the team’s coach and manager to make things worse. In the first round the Lankan lasses defeated Hong Kong but the team’s attitude was visible with their ever dropping poor performances. The Lankan lasses defeated Maldives and Pakistan on their way to the second round but overall the wins were mainly created by the mistakes of their opponents.
The first quarter was closely battled as Hong Kong claimed it by 12-11 but Sri Lanka did well to regroup to tie after the second quarter by 26-all. However Hong Kong was more dominant in their approach as they led the third quarter 43-38 before claiming the win of the game by 58-49.
Singapore claimed the Asian Youth Netball Championship defeating Malaysia by 47-43. Earlier on in the semi-finals Singapore handed Sri Lanka an unexpected 32-58 defeat while Malaysia thrashed Hong Kong by 70-40.
Thailand secured the Fifth Place Playoff defeating India by 64-30 while Chinese Taipei beat Maldives by 51-30 to win the Seventh Place Playoff. In the Ninth Place Playoff hosts South Korea recorded a thrilling 35-25 win against Pakistan. The Sri Lanka team will return to the island tomorrow.
Meanwhile a local official of the touring party was seen taking over control of the team despite the presence of the manager and the coach. The team was scheduled to make a city tour in Gongju the day prior to the game against Singapore and this official had intervened to cancel the scheduled practice session and ordered the players to rest. In contrast the Singapore team had the similar itinerary for the day and they completed their practice session as scheduled. This official had overruled certain decisions taken by the coach and the manager and had gone to the extent of naming herself as the de facto higher authority.
The behaviour of this official limited the role and the responsibilities of the manager, who was only used to purchase goods for the team. In addition another official, who was a former referee of the game, accompanying the team to assist the coaching staff was seen making excursions and shopping trips instead of her duties. After the unexpected defeat against Singapore these officials acted emotionally. These highhanded acts by this official has created a superfluous diversion within the coaching staff, resulting the players and the country the eventual sufferers.