Lankan lasses taught us how not to win a tournament
Same tourney, same coach, a gritty unit gave Sri Lanka the Asian Youth Netball title in 2016. A team with division failed the title defence this year
The Asian Youth Netball Championship 2017 concluded at the Hwasan Stadium in Gongju, South Korea last week with Singapore emerging champions out of 10 participating countries. The Singaporeans beat Malaysia 47-43 in the final while defending champions Sri Lanka went crashing down to secure the overall fourth position after Hong Kong won the Third Place Playoff by 58-49.
Sri Lanka 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.
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.
Looking at the overall performance of the Lankan lasses, it was evident that the team’s performance was below par unlike what was anticipated. Taking on the task of defending their title at Youth Asian level, the Sri Lanka team underwent a 44-day residential training camp in Nawalapitiya before taking wings to South Korea.
The dispute of the captaincy was an issue haunting the team soon after the final squad was officially named, but the Minister of Sports promptly intervened to settle the matter before the team departed. The issue, however, reemerged soon after the team landed the shores of South Korea. The peak of that issue was clearly evident when the Lankan lasses went down to Thailand by 48-53 in the first round.
This historic defeat, against Thailand at an Asian Youth Championship, was unforeseen. Sri Lanka had the upper hand at the end of the first quarter with a 18-8 lead but the grip slid gradually, eventually going down against the minnows by five points. The skipper, Madushika Fernando, was benched the entire duration of the match and not even used as a substitute, which raised many eyebrows.
Overall almost all the teams were seen well geared up for the tournament despite hosts South Korea and Pakistan failing to win a single match. Sri Lanka won three out of their four preliminary round games and were slotted to meet Pakistan in the first second round fixture. The 93-6 win was a huge boost for the Lankan lasses, but it lasted probably for a brief moment after shooter Hansima Dissanayake, a key player, suffered an injury. Upon medical recommendations she was ruled out for six weeks, which meant that Dissanayake’s services for the rest of the tournament was unavailable.
Sans Dissanayake Sri Lanka once again recorded a massive 86-14 win against the Maldives. Winning the second round matches against Pakistan and Maldives by big margins was eventually a requirement for the team to reach the next round. Eventually, it occurred without the knowledge of the team or officials.
The decisive game of this stage was up against Hong Kong, where Sri Lanka managed to emerge victorious by 86-14 and end up as Group ‘A’ leaders to reach the semi-final stage. The contributions of Kaveena Rajapakshe, Sachini Rodrigo and Nelum Hapuarachchi were clearly evident.
However by the time Sri Lanka reached the semis, the body language of the players and the officials depicted a different picture. It showed that the team was psychologically unsteady. Sri Lanka lost to Singapore by 32-58 and the players virtually offered passes top the opposition players at some critical points, in addition to giving away free shoots. The playing style of the Lankan lasses was strange against Singapore that at certain occasions some players were seen looking for their ‘buddies’ and not the next closest player on court to pass the ball. This funny and disruptive type of play faded the hopes of Sri Lanka defending their title.
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.