Facing their 1st real test of the Asian Youth Netball Championship, Sri Lanka were defeated by Singapore 58-66 in their 4th group stage match at the Kashima Sports Center, Japan.
Sri Lanka came into the game with three massive wins against South Korea, Nepal and Thailand, but it was well known that the game against Singapore would be a tougher challenge for young lionesses.
Singapore on the other hand also came into the game brimming with confidence, having defeated the same three opponents comfortably.
Sri Lanka started off slowly as Singapore dominated possession early on in the game. Repeated turnovers enabled Singapore to take a sizeable lead in the 1st quarter, 09-20.
The 2nd quarter was only marginally better as the Lankans struggled to get the ball to their tall shooter Mellony Wijesinghe, who has been the star of their campaign so far. The teams went into half time with Singapore leading 20-40.
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Sri Lanka finally got into the game in the 3rd quarter, with the players adjusting to the speed and physicality of the game.
Wijesinghe was in her element, putting on a near-flawless display with her shooting, as Sri Lanka took the quarter and pulled back the lead to 13 goals – the scores read 40 – 53 with one quarter to go.
There was added motivation for the teams to win this game, as Malaysia, the defending champions, awaited the losers in the semi-final draw.
Sri Lanka gave it their all and once again had an excellent quarter, outscoring their Singaporean counterparts comfortably. Unfortunately, they just could not make up for the lead conceded in the 1st half and ended up losing the game by just 8 goals.
Sri Lanka will face Malaysia, who topped group A, in the 1st semi-final on Saturday 6th July, while Singapore and Hong Kong will face off in the 2nd semi-final.
