The Hindu : Sport : Sri Lanka mauls India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 26, 2006

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Sport - Sports : General

Sri Lanka mauls India

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: India succumbed to its second straight defeat in Group B league in the fifth Asian Youth (under-21) netball championship when it went down to Sri Lanka 72-23 at the Sree Kanteerva Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday. The defeat and its huge margin makes the host's chance of qualifying for the semifinals a daunting task as it takes on another strong outfit, Singapore in the final league tie on Wednesday.

Outclassed

An Indian official lamented that putting India's match first on the day's schedule, cost the host dear. But that hardly could be an excuse as the Indians were outplayed in all departments of the game. Sri Lankans excelled with their unerring long passes and went on a scoring binge right from the start. Warming up with a 17-8 lead in the first quarter, Sri Lanka surged ahead 31-12 in the second quarter and stretched it to 44-19 in the third, before closing out 72-23 with a superb display in the final quarter.

Gishanthi Jayakody, the goal attacker, was in irresistible form as she slammed 45 points, the highest so far in the tournament while vice-captain and goal shooter, Iresha Koralagodage, pitched in with 24 points before being replaced in the final quarter by Akila Jayewardana. Another player to impress for Lanka was the 14-year-old Semini Alwis, who played her first international with an impeccable flair.

For India, goal shooter Monalisa Reuben and goal attacker and skipper, Preethi Banchor, scored 11 and 12 points respectively. But the team left gaping holes in the defence, which Gishanthi used to the hilt.

Thailand opened its campaign in Group A on a winning note with a 37-16 victory over Maldives with goal shooter, Ratiron scoring 27 points and goal attacker, Prapronsri netting10. Substitute goal shooter, Fathima shone for Maldives with 10 points.

The results:

Group A: Thailand 37 (Ratiron 27, Prapronsri 10) bt Maldives 16 (Fathima 7).

Group B: Sri Lanka 72 (Gishanthi Jayakody 45, Iresha Koralagodage 24) bt India 23 (Preethi Banchor 12, Monalisa Reuben 11); Singapore 60 (Yamin Ho 44) bt Hong Kong 16.

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