Tharjini Sivalingam scored a whopping 76 goals as Sri Lanka thumped regional rivals Singapore 88-50 in their Preliminary Stage 2, Group E encounter at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.
Photos: Sri Lanka vs Australia | Group A | Netball World Cup 2019
The Sri Lankan team finally got their act together on court as they came up against familiar foes Singapore in the 2nd round of action at the Netball World Cup.
Having lost all three of their Round 1 fixtures, to Zimbabwe, Northern Ireland and Australia, Sri Lanka fell into Group E in Stage 2 of the championship, having to face the other 3 bottom dwellers from the group stage, Singapore, Samoa and Fiji. The results from Group E will decide 13th -16th positions at the tournament.
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The teams started off on an even keel, with Singapore taking a 3-2 lead at the 2-minute mark of the first quarter. However, from that point onwards, it was all Sri Lanka, or should we say all Tharjini, as Sri Lanka went to 7-3 and then eventually sealed the first 15 minutes with a 10-goal lead at 21-11.
Everything seemed to click for Sri Lanka today as the defense, which had been dormant over the past couple of days also put their hands up to turn over the ball repeatedly as Singapore captain Charmaine Soh looked to take long range shots. The ball kept being fed to Tharjini and she kept hitting the mark as Sri Lanka stretched their lead to 23 goals at the end of the 2nd quarter.
Half Time: Sri Lanka 45 – 22 Singapore
Gayanjali Amarawansa, Nauchalie Rajapakse and Dulangi Wannithilake worked tireless in both attack and defense, stifling the Singaporean centre court, who struggled to get the ball through to their attacking 3rd.
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Hasitha Mendis, who started each game of this tournament but was pulled out and replaced by Wannithilake in all three opening games, finally got her act together in this game, firing in assist after assist to Sivalingam.
With the lead passing the 30-goal mark, she pulled out some fancy moves, with no-look passes and step feints making a regular appearance in her performance. Another 20+ score for Sri Lanka took them to a 35-goal lead, with scores reading 71-36.
Photos: Sri Lanka vs Singapore | Group E | Netball World Cup 2019
The game all but won, Coach Thilaka Jinadasa brought in a few changes to the lineup, getting Dulanga Dhananji, Darshika Abeywickrama, Elilenthini Sethukavalar and Deepika Darshani some game time in the middle. They still managed to win Sri Lanka the quarter 17-14 as Sri Lanka completed one of their most dominant wins against rivals Singapore.
Full Time: Sri Lanka 88 – 50 Singapore
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Tharjini Sivalingam 76 goals took her to the top of the pile in terms of most goals scored by a single player in one game at this World Cup. Mendis, Dhananji and Sethukavalar all shot well too, making 12 of the 14 shots they took – Sri Lanka only missed 4 of 92 shots they took.
Singapore didn’t shoot badly, but like Sri Lanka had struggled earlier in the tournament, they couldn’t move the ball to their shooters well enough.
Sri Lanka’s next game will be against Samoa (ranked 14th in the world) at 3pm (SL time) tomorrow 16th July.
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