Sri Lanka have been handed a daunting draw in the upcoming Netball World Cup which will be held in Sydney, Australia next year.
Sri Lanka, who ended up being the runners up of the Asian Netball Championship, have been drafted into group C and will face the Asian giants Singapore, South Africa and Malawi in the group stage matches. The group winners and runners up will progress to the second round.
The head of Sri Lanka Netball Interim Committee, Victoria Lakshmi, however, revealed that the draw could be changed prior to the Word Cup.
“Yes, we have been drawn into a difficult group, but, we will make an appeal to the International Netball Federation because they have been promoting Asian teams, and according to this draw both the Asian teams will be clashing in the group stages,” she told Ceylon Today in an exclusive interview yesterday.
Sri Lanka had sent in a relatively experienced side to the Asian Championship. Lakshmi, who is also the President of Asian Netball Federation, believes that it’s time the youngsters fill up the big shoes and lift their game to the next level.
“Frankly, for us it would be incredibly difficult to win the World Cup, but, this is a great opportunity for our youngsters to improve their performances and the country’s ranking,” she added.
Meanwhile, she also spoke of the importance of having the services of a foreign coach, especially before the World Cup.
“We have given the girls a break for a month and they will start their preparation for the big tournament in January under a new head coach. I think it’s always good to have a local coach as the head coach, but, we know our girls can learn a lot from a foreign coach as well. I don’t think we will have a foreign head coach, but we will try to add an experienced overseas coach to our supporting staff,” she said.
