The Sri Lanka Netball team that won the Asian Netball Championship on Sunday returned home yesterday and were given a rousing welcome at the Bandaranaike International Airport. On arrival at the BIA, an elated team coach Thilaka Jinadasa spoke to the media. "I am very pleased with this achievement. We had a well planned training schedule and our single minded commitment enabled us to achieve this victory," Jinadasa told reporters yesterday.

The Sri Lankan team remained unbeaten throughout the competition and beat Singapore in the final 77 points to 48 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This was the fourth title the Sri Lankans won in the Asian Championship and they last won eight years ago in 2001. Apart from that, they emerged runners-up in 1985 and 1993.

"This win is important as it would help us to boost our international rankings and it’s an encouragement for us to do well and qualify for the Commonwealth Games to be held in India next year. I sincerely hope there would be much more support for the Sri Lankan netball team," Jinadasa further said.

The team’s performances were heavily banked on their main goal shooter Tharajani Sivalingam, who scored 74 points in the final. She was named as the top goal scorer in the competition with 380 goals to her name. When asked to comment on the excellent show put up by the tall netballer, Jinadasa said, "We just worked on her self confidence. She responded well and played a key role in our success."