Sri Lanka has slid down to 27th in the International Netball Federation World Rankings which has been updated as at 21st April 2017.
Singapore, Malaysia and even Hong Kong are all above Sri Lanka in the rankings. Singapore are in 19th position while Malaysia, who became 2016 Asian Champions, are in 21st. Hong Kong rank two above Sri Lanka in 25th position.
Ranking period is from July 2013 – March 2017. During the period Sri Lanka’s arch rivals in Asia Singapore have played 50 matches while Sri Lanka has only played 23. Of those Singapore has played 12 in the last two years while Sri Lanka has 6.
Sri Lanka’s highest world ranking was 14th when the Island nation won the 2009 Asian Netball Championship. Since then Sri Lanka has been gradually going down in the rankings.
Weighting
A rating is a measure of the average performance of a team over a series of matches. Each team earns a certain number of points from each international match. Their rating is the total number of points earned divided by the number of matches played. The team with the highest rating is ranked first in the world. The next highest rating is ranked second and so on.
Weighting Matches played a long time ago are a poorer guide to current form than more recent results. Therefore past results are weighted, giving a lower weighting to earlier results. For the purposes of this list, matches played since July 2015 currently have a full weighting (100%). Matches played in the two previous years (July 2013-June 2015) have a weighting of 50%. Earlier matches are not directly included in the ratings at all.
Each July, the oldest year of results will drop out of the ratings and the weightings redistributed. This is the one annual occasion when the rankings list could alter other than through a match being played.
Points
The number of points earned by a team for any match depends on two factors. The result (won, tied or lost) and the opponent against whom the result was achieved. The higher an opponent’s rating the more points are earned for beating them.
If a team wins a match they will earn 50 points more than their opponent’s rating. But if they lose, they will earn 50 points less than their opponent’s rating.
Comment your thoughts on the reasons for Sri Lanka going down in the rankings and what needs to be done for Netball in the future!
