SL trounce HK to extend winning streak

By Pathum Sri Wijeratne reporting from Singapore

Sri Lanka cruised to their third successive victory as they outplayed Hong Kong 71-48 in their Asian Netball Championship Cup Segment fixture worked off at the OCBC Arena in Singapore on Thursday (6).

Sri Lanka who had already secured their place in the semi-finals maintained their unbeaten record with another ruthless performance and went on to top the group with the maximum points.

In fact, their success over Hong Kong was quite significant as they would meet the same opponents in the first semi-final on Saturday (8).

The second semi-final will be between Singapore and Malaysia on the same day with the final scheduled for Sunday.

Sri Lanka got off to a solid start once again as they built up a crucial 18-13 lead after the completion of the first quarter thanks to the excellent combination of Hasitha Mendis and Dulangi Wannithilaka.

With Tharjini Sivalingam producing another tremendous performance Sri Lanka were able to consolidate their position and extend their lead to 39-25 at half time.

Thereafter, Sri Lanka opted to provide more exposure to their less experienced players but still they managed to stay ahead while accumulating 15 goals and conceding only 10 goals to their opponents which gave them an overall lead of 54-35.

Sri Lanka then went on to add the finishing touches in style as they completely demolished their opponents 17-13 in the fourth and final quarter.

Meanwhile, Singapore edged-out Malaysia 56-55 in another Cup Segment encounter.

In other matches, Brunei defeated India 51-41, Thailand trounced Japan 62-27, Pakistan beat Chinese Taipei 67-24 and the Philippines defeated Maldives 50-44.