The Netball Federation of Sri Lanka (NFSL) has selected a 12-player squad for the 11th Asian Youth Netball Championship 2019 which will be held in Japan.
The Sri Lanka Youth Netball Squad was approved by the Minister of Sports Harin Fernando with one notable exclusion being Sethmi Danoshi from Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala. She was expected to be one of the first names to be included in the team but has unfortunately fallen out of favour during the final stages of selection.
There are three players from Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, in the squad, namely, Tharushi Illangarathna, Mellony Wijesinghe and Dilani Perera.
Tharushi Illangarathna, was named as the captain and is the only surviving member from the disastrous 2017 Asian Youth Netball Championship campaign. She also represented Sri Lanka in the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup in Botswana.
Vice-captain of the team Mellony Wijesinghe, who is still 17 years old, too was part of the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup squad.
Vishmika Rathnayake and Aneesha Perera are from Gateway College, Colombo while Kavindi Randima Perera is from Presbyterian Girls’ School, Dehiwala. Imasha Perera from Navy SC and Dimithri Guniyangoda from Seylan Bank are the only two non-school going girls in the squad.
Ganya Senanayake made history for Ladies’ College, Colombo becoming the first netball player from Ladies’ to represent the country. Dewna Randeni from Kalutara Balika National School, Sajini Rathnayake from Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala and Kusalika Aluvihare from Hillwood College, Kandy are the other three making up the 12-player squad.
Related Coverage;
- Sri Lanka squad for Netball World Cup announced
- Sri Lanka tour Botswana before Netball World Cup
- Malaysia champions; Sri Lanka finish third
- Will the fund-less Sports Ministry be of any assistance for Netball WC?
The 11th Asian Youth Championship will be held from 29th June – 7th July. Sri Lanka has won the Asian Youth Championships on three occasions (1998, 2002 and 2015) and were runners-up on five occasions (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2013). The last edition of this competition was in 2017 in South Korea where Sri Lanka sank to fourth place.
A 60-player Sri Lanka Youth Pool was selected late last year which was then pruned down to 38 in February this year. The squad was then further reduced to 20.
Ministry of Sports appointed Malindu Kumari Gamage as the Head Coach for the Sri Lanka Youth Netball team. She represents the Badulla Netball Association and was part of the four-member coaching staff which oversaw the Sri Lanka Development Pool for last year’s quadrangular tournament.
20-Player Squad
Tharushi Illangarathne (Visakha Vidyalaya) – Mellony Wijesinghe (Visakha Vidyalaya) – Dilani Perera (Visakha Vidyalaya) – Kavindi Perera (Presbyterian Girls’ School, Dehiwala) – Sajini Rathnayake (Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala) – Imasha Perera (Navy SC) – Ganya Senanayake (Ladies’ College) – Vishmika Rathnayake (Gateway College) – Aneesha Perera (Gateway College) – Dimitri Guniyangoda (Seylan Bank) –Dewna Randeni (Kalutara Balika national School) – Kusalika Aluvihare (Hillwood College, Kandy)
Standby Players
Natasha Aluvihare (Visakha Vidyalaya) – Rashmi Anjalika Thilakarathna (Presbyterian Girls’ School, Dehiwala) – Kawshi Dilani Perera (Visakha Vidyalaya)
>>For more Netball News Click Here<<
 has selected a 12-player squad for the 11th Asian Youth Netball Championship 2019 which will be held in Japan.){kind=link}