Tharjini Sivalingam: 100 Caps for the Sri Lankan Netball Team
View(s):For over a decade Tharjini Sivalingam has been putting on the Goal Shooter bib and doing what she does best: Shooting extremely accurately for the Sri Lankan Netball Team.
Tharjini (left) during the World Cup in UK
She seemingly effortlessly puts the finish on her teammates’ hard work in bringing the ball down the court to the scoring area within the goal circle. Along with her teammates, she is currently in England representing Sri Lanka at the Netball World Cup. This week she reached a landmark that only few international netballers have been able to achieve: 100 hundred matches for her country.
To put this in perspective, of her current teammates, Gayani Dissanayake has played the next highest number of matches and her tally is currently 75 (which is also an incredibly admirable effort!).
At 6’ 10’’ her height is a considerable advantage to the team. This does mean however that she attracts a great deal of attention from the opposition defence and has spent much of her career holding her position against both the goal defender and goal keeper – opposition teams know that the Sri Lankans will be looking to get the ball to Tharjini under the goal post, hence both defenders often double team her.
Her ability to play well and score highly against under intense pressure has seen her hold down the GS position in the starting seven in the Sri Lankan team for many years. Speaking on the occasion of the 100th match, Tharjini said“I am really happy to reach 100 caps this is a big milestone and I’m really pleased to be able to do it with this team.”
Tharjini in action
Tharjini has played with many greats of Sri Lankan netball and she holds a great deal of respect amongst her teammates both past and present.
Many netballers have commented on her focus and ability to score goals with astonishing accuracy. She is also one of the fairest players on the court always looking out for both her teammates as well as being one of the first to offer her wishes to her opponents.
Tharjini has played with Seylan Bank in Sri Lanka, and is currently playing with the City West Falcons in Melbourne. This is her third World Cup, her first Asian Championship was back in 2005 (she has played in five world championships), and she brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the team. She has been a huge asset to Sri Lankan netball and has played a key role in the success of this team. Reaching 100 test caps is a major achievement and Tharjini deserves to be congratulated.
| Tharjini’s records at this world cup | |
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