A fantastic display of shooting by Thisala Algama saw Sri Lanka run away with the Asian Youth Netball title for the 1st time in 13 years.
The team who came into the finals unbeaten, met with a resurgent Malaysian outfit that was determined not to go down without a fight.
Malaysia had been beaten by Sri Lanka quite comfortably in the Cup round robin game but today they piled on the pressure on the Sri Lankan girls, leading the game by two goals in both the 1st and 2nd quarters.
Sri Lanka on the other hand had looked exceedingly dominant throughout the tournament but today their nerves seemed to get the better of them in the earlier stages of the match.
Dulangi Wannithilake was quick to get the passes but her long range shooting accuracy deserted her in the 1st half.
Malaysia too ensured that Sri Lanka had to work for every minute of possession. What proved to be invaluable in the end of the game was the fact that, even though Sri Lanka weren’t playing their best netball, they never let Malaysia get too far ahead.
The 1st half ended at 22 -24 in favour of Malaysia.
The defending championships stretched the lead to 4 goals early on in the 3rd quarter but this was when things began to click for the Lankans.
They began finding the accuracy and speed that had been lacking in the 1st quarter and slowly worked their way into the lead midway through the 3rd quarter.
Wannithilake now refrained from taking shots at goal and instead lobbed the ball with pin point accuracy to the towering Algama. The goal shooter did her part by ensuring that she beat her defender in the air to collect the pass more often than not.
Sri Lanka should be pretty pleased that although they used the age old tactic of using their tall shooter as their main weapon they did not rely solely on her prowess but looked to Wannithilake and Wing Attack Gayanjali Amarawansa to provide her with the ball.
Sri Lanka ended the 3rd quarter ahead by 2 goals.
It was much of the same for the Lankans in the 4th quarter but a resilient Malaysian Goal Attack saw that her team remained close right throughout.
It was real nail biting stuff at the McPherson Stadium in Hong Kong when Malaysia drew level with the Lankans, eclipsing a 5 goal advantage two minutes before the end of the game.
However, Sri Lanka’s senior pros Gayani Dissanayake, Algama, Amarawansa and Wannithilake saw to it that Malaysia never took the lead and they ultimately emerged victorious with the score line reading 53 -48.
In the Bronze medal match, Singapore cruised to a comfortable win over hosts Hong Kong, finishing their campaign in the same position they achieved that the previous tournament.
Thailand beat Brunei in the 5th/6th place playoff and a jubilant Japanese team won their 7th/8th place playoff against Chinese Taipei.
Scores – Day 7
Japan 41 – 40 Chinese Taipei
Thailand 38 – 34 Brunei
Singapore 42 – 28 Hong Kong
Sri Lanka 53 – 48 Malaysia
