Tallest player basks in attention

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Newton, Singapore

Sri Lanka's netball team may not be one of the main contenders for this year's World Netball Championships (WNC) title.

However, they have been receiving a lot of attention from local fans and people all over the world, through their 6' 10" goal shooter, Tharjini Sivalingam, who is by far the tallest netball player in the tournament.

The 29-year-old Sivalingam, who hails from the Sri Lanka capital of Colombo, is even taller than Jamaica's ace shooters Romelda Aiken 6' 5" and Jhaneile Fowler, 6' 4".

Seemingly amazed by Sivalingam's height, both Aiken and Fowler, along with other members of the Sunshine Girls team, took time out to take pictures with the Sri Lanka player, during the International Federation of Netball Associations' (IFNA) candle-lighting ceremony on Saturday.

Sivalingam told The Gleaner that she loves the attention she has been receiving from local fans, but her aim is to be the best goal shooter in the tournament.

"I feel very happy and very proud because I have been getting a lot of attention from people over here," said Sivalingam, who has been playing the sport for the past six years.

"They always walk up to me and want to take pictures with me, and they even stand beside me to see how tall they are or how short they are and I really like this because it gives me confidence," she said.

Continuing, Sivalingam said: "My expectation is to score all my shots and be the best player of this World Championship. We are also going to do our best because we have Northern Ireland and Samoa in our first two matches and we are going do all we can to beat them.

"I think we do have a strong team and the players have worked really hard for this championship," said Sivalingam, who describes herself as the best player in her country.

Defending champions Australia are also in Pool A with Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland and Samoa.