Giant jinx crashes to the ground

Towering netball player Tharjini Sivalingam was immobilized well and truly by Army’s women who broke a 20-year hoodoo to win the National Netball Championships here at the Matara football stadium last evening.

Sivalingam, the seven-foot giantess from Jaffna met her waterloo in the south as the Army women completely surrounded her and cut off all her defences and supply routes in the semi finals as her Seylan Bank team lost defending the crown and a passage into the final.
 
The Army women came with a well planned strategy and handled the pressure well as they took an 18-15 lead in the first half to eventually win 37-34 and enter the final to beat Hatton National Bank 51-47 and rewrite history after an exciting contest.
 
In the final Army led 26-24 in the first half.

Army’s playmaker goal shooter Kanchana Jayaweera made a huge difference right on target with basket after basket. She received fine support from Sri Lanka player and goal defence exponents Marisha Fernando and Nauchali Rajapakse.
 
Both sides faced a torrid time till the last quarter, but Army’s players had that little bit of extra power to seal the win.
Army’s front runners overpowered their opposite numbers with some brilliant moves to find the gaps and deliver clear ball to their dynamic shooter Jayaweera who scored 41 of the 51 points.
 
HNB national players, goal-attacker Hansi Dilrukshani, goal shooters Shashika Samarasinghe and Dharshika Abeywickrama and goal defense Kumarini de Silva made a strong impact as they kept the ball although at times miscommunication and ineffective passing put them under pressure.

Also HNB’s goal shooter the experienced Shashika Samarasinghe missed several easy scoring opportunities and was totally off colour.
 
Seylan Bank beat Ports Authority 47-30 in the third place play-off game.

Special awards – best shooter- Kanchana Jayaweera (Army), Best defence –Nauchali Rajapakse (Army), Best centre court player- Jayalia Kumari (Seylan), Best Upcoming player –Gayathri Wickramage (Matara). Netball queen – Kanchana Jayaweera (Army)

(Courtesy: - Ceylon Today)