Sri Lankan Cricket Fans

The Sri Lanka Youth Netball team, led by another nearly flawless performance by shooter Mellony Wijesinghe, registered their 3rd straight win of the Asian Youth Netball Championship, beating Thailand 85-29 at the Kashima Sports Center, Japan.



Sri Lanka came into the game with a perfect record, having defeated South Korea and Nepal in their two opening fixtures. Having scored 95 and a whopping 136 goals in the previous two games, Sri Lanka were slower off the blocks against the Thais, managing just 15 goals in the 1st quarter to the 7 scored by Thailand. As expected, it was Wijesinghe who did the majority of the scoring – making 14 of her 19 attempts at goal. Dewna Randini added 1 goal to the tally in the 1st quarter as the scores read 15-7.

Sri Lanka picked up the pace in the 2nd quarter, as the game drifted away from Thailand with Wijesighe getting into her stride. She was successful on 24 attempts at goal, with a success rate of above 90%. By half-time, Sri Lanka were well on their way to their 3rd successive win, leading 39 -14.

The third and 4th quarters were much of the same, as Sri Lanka dominated from the onset, scoring at will. The defense too did their job perfectly, with intercepts and turnovers enabling Wijesinghe and co. to put the game beyond the tiring Thais.

After a somewhat disappointing 1st quarter by their standards, where they had a success rate of just 75%, Sri Lanka turned the screws in the latter half of the game, with a 96% success rate in the 2nd half, making 46 of the 48 shots taken. Wijesinghe shone once again, doing the bulk of the scoring, including a fourth quarter tally of 23/23 as Sri Lanka ran away winners 85-29.

With the win, Sri Lanka secured their spot in the semifinal, despite having a game to spare in the 1st round. They will face the other unbeaten team in group B and arch rivals Singapore tomorrow (4th) at the same venue.

http://www.thepapare.com/sri-lanka-record-win-thailand-11th-asian-youth-netball-championship-2019/

Sri Lanka (SL) played their third match in the U16 SABA Basketball Championship 2019 against hosts Bangladesh (BAN). The home team drowned in defeat as the islanders recorded their hat-trick win, 42-70 at full time.

http://www.thepapare.com/sri-lanka-basketball-saba-u16-bangladesh-match-03/

Sri Lanka secured seven medals including a gold and two silver at the Modern Pentathlon Asian Cup 2019 held in Burabay, Kazakhstan last week. The gold medal for Sri Lanka came from Gayani Dasanayake, who excelled in the Individual Female Biathle event, motivating her team mates to perform better. Dasanayake, an Airwoman, took up the sport recently, and made her country proud with an achievement that is overwhelming.
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/190714/sports/sri-lanka-wins-seven-medals-358203.html

Tharjini is the highest goal scorer of the tournament at the moment with 183 goals. SL had earlier lost to Zimbabwe, Northern Ireland and Australia.

https://www.nwc2019.co.uk/competition-hub/

http://www.dailynews.lk/2019/07/16/sports/191254/sivalingam-stars-sri-lanka’s-first-win

Tharjini Sivalingam scored an incredible 76 goals as Sri Lanka earned their first win of the Netball World Cup tournament by beating Singapore 88-50 in the opening game in Group E.

Both sides started steadily, each claiming two goals apiece. However it was Sri Lanka who then gain control, with their tall goal shooter Sivalingam firing in seven goals to give them a 7-4 advantage. It was a perfect ten as she extended the lead to 10-5. Singapore’s main attacker was Charmaine Soh who netted nine of their eleven first-quarter goals. However Sivalingam had already boosted her tournament tally by 21.

The second quarter saw the tall Sri Lankan goal shooter taking her chances, and resistance being offered by Soh. Sivalingam’s shooting partner Hasitha Mendis got her first goal to take the scores to 28-14, but she was overshadowed by the prolific Sivalingam.

Even when marked by two Singaporean defenders, the outcome when the ball was fed into Sivalingam was very impressive. Pei Shan Lee popped in her first goal to make the score 38-18, but Sivalingam’s relentless shooting ensured her side led 45-21 at half time.

There was no surprise among the court 2 crowd when the Sri Lankan goal shooter opened the scoring in the second half. She soon reached her personal half century, with the score at 52-24. Singapore upped their goal tally slightly from the opening two quarters but they were still down 71-36 at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter saw more of the same when a rebounded Singapore shot allowed Sivalingam to add another brace to her tally. The Singaporeans were starting to wilt, leaving more space for Sri Lanka to exploit.

The game’s star player was substituted but there was still time for Sri Lanka to add a further nine goals to their tally to ensure an even more one-sided look to the final score.

Sri Lankan captain Chathurangi Jayasooriya said: “This game was more challenging for us as we are the Asian champions. We are glad to get our first win.”

Singapore head coach Natalie Milicich said: “At the end of the day you cannot make those errors against a team which is efficient in attack. We are a little team so we will always find it difficult to get ball. We have to make up for it by being more efficient with ball in hand.”

A walk-off groundout led Sri Lanka past India 2-1 in their opening fixture of the XIV West Asia Baseball Cup 2019. The game was tied at one with Sri Lanka batting in the bottom of the ninth when Sahan Gunasekara grounded out, scoring one run to seal the deal.
http://www.thepapare.com/xiv-west-asia-baseball-cup-2019-sri-lanka-india-results/

The Sri Lankan National Baseball team defeated Iran in the semifinal to advance to the big Final of the West Asia Baseball Cup 2019.
http://www.thepapare.com/xiv-west-asia-baseball-cup-2019-sri-lanka-iran-results/

බටහිර ආසියානු බේස්බෝල් කුසලානය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට
http://www.thepapare.com/xiv-west-asia-baseball-cup-2019-match-report-sinhala/

This guy looks good for the Olympic title next year