Sri Lanka finish runners-up in SABA Championship
Sri Lanka basketball team secured the runners-up title at SABA
The hard work that the national basketball team put in lead up to their major international challenge this year came in handy as they finished runners-up in the SABA Championship in Dhaka earlier this week.
Sri Lanka lost just one game to regional powerhouse India in this campaign as performances of several young players stood out. Dasun Nilantha, Nimesh Fernando and Rukshan Atapattu played brilliantly throughout the campaign.
However, the standout performer was captain Clinton Stallone, who was unstoppable both in offence and defence. His leadership skills also stood out and moving forward he has much to offer. Sri Lanka’s selectors had balanced the side with a mixture of youth and experience and this excellent performance gives us an opportunity to build on for the future.
The team was placed in a bio-secure bubble for a a period of one month lead up to the tournament. With Sugathadasa Hostel complex being their base during the training period, the team was able to train, conduct gym, swimming and recovery sessions at the same premises. This helped to improve the performance of the team and more importantly developed camaraderie amongst players.
SLBF President Aelian Gunawardene travelled with the team to Dhaka as Chef de Mission. SLBF thanks its generous sponsors Velona, Vaaj Group and MAS.
“We also must thank the employers of our players and coaching staff for granting duty leave for an extended period of time to complete training successfully. Our players are employed at Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Army, Ministry of Education, FairFirst Insurance, DFCC Bank and Commercial Credit and Finance. One of our players is an undergraduate at University of Moratuwa,” stated Gunawardene.