Sri Lanka to conduct final netball trial

By Susil Premalal

The Netball Selection Committee (NSC) has decided to conduct the final selection trial to pick the Sri Lanka squad for the upcoming 14th Asian Senior Netball Championship in Hong Kong before June 15.

Accordingly, a pool of 15 players is currently undergoing daily training sessions at the Bandaragama Indoor Stadium.

The championship is scheduled to be held in Hong Kong from August 7 to 16 and will also serve as the Asian qualifying event for the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney, with the top two teams securing qualification.

Earlier, the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka (NFSL) initiated training with a 30-member squad following a short-term talent search and selection process. However, after a one-day selection trial held on March 29 at the Indoor Stadium in Bandaragama, the squad was reduced to 18 players.

Meanwhile, several senior players who represented Sri Lanka at the last Asian Championship in Bangalore where the team finished as runners-up, have been included in the current 15-member pool. This includes former captain Dulangi Wannithilaka. One school player has also been selected and she is Thumalika Ekanayake from Maliyadeva Balika Vidyalaya, Kurunegala.

It is also reported that the Sri Lanka Netball Federation is planning to have the 15-member pool train in Australia before finalising the team.

Sri Lanka National Netball Pool (15 Players):

Thissala Algama, Bashi Udagadara, Rashmi Perera, Gayani Dissanayake, Dulangi Wannithilaka, Gayanjali Amarawansa, Thilini Waththegedera, Chalani Nisha, Rukshala Hapuarachchi, Thumalika Ekanayake, Ishara Dharmasiri, Anjalika Thilakaratne, Samrudhi de Silva, Thimi Wasanthapriya and Malmi Hettiarachchi