Sports

Amalka, Ananda guiding lights of country’s netball stronghold

Published

6 years ago

2020/10/7

Amalka Gunathilaka and Ananda Wannithilaka have been providing a yeoman service to country’s netball propelling Holy Family Convent Kurunegala to become the schools netball stronghold.(File Pix by Nishan S. Priyantha)

When satisfaction is the only reward for commitment

by Reemus Fernando

No school in the country has dominated schools netball like the way teams of Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala have done during the last one and half decades. The name of Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala has been so synonymous with the All Island Schools Netball Championships and the Milo Schools Championship titles to such an extent that one cannot remember a single year when they had settled for a trophy lower than the runner up title during the last decade.

Schools like Kalutara Balika, Musaeus, Girls High School, Kandy have challenged them to win age category titles but when it comes to overall championships, there had hardly been another contender. Like the trophies to the souvenir cupboard of the girls’ school of Kurunegala, there had also been a steady supply of talent to the youth national and national teams from this school during the last decade.

However the netball dominance HFC is experiencing today is a far cry from the early 2000s. HFC were not even a formidable force at Provincial level when Amalka Gunathilaka commenced training the youngsters.

Maliyadeva Balika and Kalutara Balika were the only schools to have won championship titles until HFC emerged as a force to be reckoned in the field of netball under her stewardship.

HFC became the Under-12 Milo Schools Netball champions in 2005, a year after she joined the school as a PTI. From then on the school went from strength to strength.

Few years after Gunathilaka took coaching reigns, HFC became unbeatable at almost all age category competitions at national level.

Certainly it was not the regular working hours of a PTI that propelled the school to be crowned as Sri Lanka’s netball queens.

“I would come early in the morning to commence training. Then I attend to regular teaching. When I leave the school after training it is very late in the afternoon. When competitions are around the corner I leave the school very late,” says Amalka whose commitment and contribution to netball in the country is yet to receive due recognition.

Beside Amalka her husband Ananda Wannithilaka, the former national volleyball player and coach provides much needed guidance in strength and conditioning to the team. The commitment of this husband and wife duo has gone a long way in HFC becoming the netball stronghold of the country.

However despite helping the team produce remarkable feats, Amalka is yet to be given a proper national job which she craved for years.

“First when I applied for the coaching job in 2011 I was told that I could not get it since my daughter was in the squad. Then I applied in 2013, 2015 and 2018. They would cite different reasons. And would select someone who has only paper qualifications but has never had performances to produce. I always had performances. I am a qualified coach. I did the advance course as well. I was informed that I had passed it. But I am yet to receive the certificate from the federation,” says Amalka.

While Dulangi Wannithilaka (her daughter), Rathna Victoria and Methma Jayaratne are some of her products who excelled at senior level, there are numerous others from Sajini Ratnayake, Sethmi Danoshi, Suseema Kumari, Nelumi Hapuarachchi to Nirmani Perera, who had donned the junior national jersey for Sri Lanka.

She got a couple of rare breaks when she was selected to accompany the team to World Youth Cup in Gaborone, Botswana in 2017 as assistant coach to Janaki Gunasekara and was named coach of the Under-16 team last year for the inaugural Under-16 South Asian Netball Championship in Nepal where she spent her own funds to function as the coach. Sri Lanka won the championship comfortably.

Amalka believes that the entire selection process not only of coaches but also of players needs to be overhauled with provincial level selectors making available the outstation talent for national consideration.

With the sport suffering a huge setback due to the Covid-19 pandemic and training at junior level in disarray, Amalka is interested in the junior national coaching job which she once cherished so much.

“At the moment I very much cherish what I do. I am content that I and my husband were able to make our contribution to netball. Each year the players we produce are ranked among the best at junior level. Netball has become an added advantage for those who join private sector firms after leaving school and those who seek higher education. We gain immense satisfaction when we see them succeed in different walks of life.”

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Sports

US golfer Gogel gets six-month ban for betting

Published

1 hour ago

2026/08/27

Priyan

Matt Gogel is 20th in the PGA Tour Champions' season-long Charles Schwab Cup points race [BBC]

American golfer Matt Gogel has been suspended for six months for betting on golf tournaments, the PGA Tour has said.

The 55-year-old competes on the PGA Tour Champions circuit which is reserved for professional golfers aged 50 and older.

Gogel did not bet on events in which he was participating but admitted to unknowingly violating PGA Tour policy by placing “small recreational wagers” in 2024 and 2025.

“I would never knowingly violate the integrity of the game of golf,” Gogel said in a statement.

“I made an honest mistake and I look forward to playing in 2027 on the PGA Tour Champions.”

He had two top-10 finishes across 18 PGA Tour Champions events in 2026 and was most recently in action during the Rogers Charity Classic in Calgary, Alberta where he finished tied 30th last week.

Gogel, who has earned more than $760,000 (£559,000) in prize money from Champions events, won the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 2002 – his only victory in 179 starts on the PGA Tour.

His suspension came into effect on 23 August and lasts until 22 February.

[BBC Sports]

Latest News

UAE’s Asif Khan handed 15-month ban for using a banned substance

Published

2 hours ago

2026/08/27

Priyan

Asif Khan turned out in 94 internationals for UAE [Cricinfo]

Asif Khan the UAE batter, has been banned for 15 months after admitting to having tested positive for a banned substance – “a metabolite of mesterolone” – in an out-of-competition test conducted in September 2025, the ICC said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement said that Asif, 36, “had admitted the violation” of Article 2.1 of the ICC’s anti-doping code and accepted the period of ineligibility “pursuant to a case resolution agreement entered into with the World Anti-Doping Agency and the ICC”, which means there is no right to appeal on the part of the player.

The sanction is effective from September 8, 2025 and will run until December 7, 2026.

“Asif may return to training with a team or use the facilities of a club or other ICC Member organisation from 8 October 2026 but will only be eligible to play from 8 December,” the statement added. “The player’s individual results from 8 September 2025 until his provisional suspension on 29 December 2025 have been disqualified, along with all resulting consequences, including the loss of any medals, points, prize money or prizes.”

Asif, a former Pakistan Under-19 cricketer, made his UAE debut in March 2022 in an ODI against Oman in the ICC’s Cricket World Cup League 2. He turned out in 38 ODIs and 56 T20Is between then and September 2025.

The last three of those T20Is, against India, Oman and Pakistan in the T20 Asia Cup in 2025, came after September 8, and will be removed from his record.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

India closing in on big win in Colombo

Published

11 hours ago

2026/08/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sonal Dinusha’s impressive run in the series continued as he posted back to back hundreds, but India are in total control of the game

by Rex Clementine

India are closing in on a big win at SSC after Sri Lanka slumped to 229 for six at stumps on day four of the second Test having been forced to follow on yesterday.

Sri Lanka lead by just 16 runs with four wickets in hand and with three sessions remaining, the tourists will be looking to wrap up victory and complete a 2-0 series sweep. India won the first Test in Galle by 165 runs.

Sonal Dinusha, who batted superbly for a hundred in the first innings, was unbeaten on seven when rain brought play to a premature end. With Sri Lanka now into the tail, Dinusha has his work cut out. He has been the hosts’ standout performer in the series, having also made 100 and 84 in Galle.

Sri Lanka resumed the day on 265 for eight, still needing 39 runs to avoid the follow on, but were bowled out for 290 and asked to bat again.

Although they lost both openers early, Kamindu Mendis and Pasindu Sooriyabandara gave Sri Lanka hope with a 115 run stand for the third wicket.

Sooriyabandara, who had made 80 in the first innings, once again played spin superbly, using clever footwork, while Mendis took on the fast bowlers.

But India had plenty of runs on the board and persisted with the short ball against Mendis, stationing three fielders on the boundary. Eventually, the plan paid off. Mendis took on Mohammed Siraj and perished for 55, with captain Shubman Gill running in from square leg to complete a fine catch.

That was the breakthrough India desperately wanted and the spinners quickly turned the screws. Three wickets fell for just nine runs as Sri Lanka surrendered the initiative and India regained control.

Sooriyabandara missed out on a well deserved hundred when he charged Manav Suthar. The left-arm spinner cleverly fired the ball wide, leaving the batter stranded as Rishabh Pant whipped off the bails in a flash. Sooriyabandara’s 92 came off 173 balls and contained ten fours and a six.

Having spent considerable time in the field, India’s bowlers were beginning to tire, evident from the number of loose deliveries they sent down. But Sri Lanka’s batters lacked the patience to drive home the advantage, with several throwing away their wickets just when the hosts appeared to be clawing their way back into the contest.