- 15-member netball squad chosen
- Ahead of practice tour to Australia and Asian Senior C’ship
The five-member national netball selection committee headed by Padma Baddewela has trimmed the 18-member preliminary pool to 15 ahead of a tour of Australia in July for a few practice matches, in preparation for the 14th Asian Senior Netball Championships to be held in Hong Kong China in August.
The Daily Morning Sports learns through reliable sources that the 15-member squad has already been sent to Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage for his approval, as Sri Lanka looks to ramp up its preparations for the crucial competition in Hong Kong China.
The tour to Australia will primarily be for practice sessions for the senior team and it is expected that this same squad would represent Sri Lanka at the Asian Senior Netball Championships which doubles up as make or break for all leading Asian nations in the sport.
The event which is set to be staged from 7-16 August also will be used as Asia’s qualifying round with only the overall winner and runner-up scheduled to advance to the Netball World Cup which is due to get underway in Sydney, Australia next year.
According to informed sources the skipper of the senior national team is due to be chosen following an exhaustive interview process overseen by the national selectors.
The player gaining the highest points over categories such as past captaincy record, success rate, educational qualifications etc, is likely to be entrusted with the captaincy this time around in a clear deviation from past practice.
According to netball analysts, the captaincy of the senior team could be a tossup between Dulangi Wannithilaka and Gayanjali Amarawansa, with both having previously led the island-nation with budding star Chalini Neesha being an outside bet.
Wannithilaka playing in the positions goal attack, wing attack, led her country to runners-up position losing 64-67 to Singapore in the final at the 13th Asian Senior Netball Championship in Bengaluru, India two years ago, having been the team’s vice captain at the same tournament in Singapore in 2022.
Amarawansa who features in positions centre and wing attack, was captain of the senior team when they won gold at the 2022 Asian Netball Championship and also led the Lankans at the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.
Neesha in fact captained the Sri Lanka Youth (U21) national netball team at the 13th Asian Youth Netball Championship 2025 held in Jeonju, South Korea.
Former captain Gayani Dissanayake who mostly features in goal defence and goal keeper positions, could also be in the fray to return to the helm.
But critics view that it would be unlikely for her to do so following a 10-year lapse having led them at the 10th Asian Netball Championship in Thailand.
Meanwhile, it is also reliably understood that renowned ex-Jamaican netball star cum coach Connie Francis has expressed her interest to the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka (NFSL), to train the Sri Lanka senior team during July ahead of the tournament in Hong Kong the following month.
At the same time the NFSL has also received an application from reputed Australian netball coach Julie Fitzgerald to be the national team’s consultant coach ahead of the competition in Hong Kong.
However, the majority consensus within the NFSL is to fall back on the expertise of Francis for the critical Championship looming on the horizon.
The 15-member SL senior netball squad sent for Sports Minister’s approval is as follows
Thisala Algama, Bashi Udagedera, Rashmi Perera, Gayani Dissanayake, Dulangi Wannithilaka, Gayanjali Amarawansa, Thilini Wattegedera, Chalini Neesha, Rukshala Hapuarachchi, Thumalka Ekanayake, Ishara Dharmasiri, Anjalika Thillakaratna, Samurdhi de Silva, Thimi Wasanthapriya and Malmi Hettiarachchi
Head coach – Somitha de Alwis