Tharjini Sivalingam

Tharjini Sivalingam (born 30 December 1978) is a former Sri Lankan veteran netball player and former skipper of the Sri Lankan national netball team.^[1] With her staggering height of 206 cm or a fraction under 6 ft 9in,^[2] she has been recognized as one of the most successful shooters of all time and often regarded as the tallest netball player ever. She is the most capped international netball player to represent Sri Lanka.^[3][4][5][6] She was a regular member of Sri Lankan netball team in international netball tournaments since making her debut in 2009. She is well known for her unusually tall height and considered one of the marquee players in Sri Lankan netball history.^[7] She also faced many hardships in her childhood as she grew up in warzone.

Tharjini Sivalingam

Personal information
Born	(1978-12-30) 30 December 1978 (age 44) Punnalaikadduvan, Jaffna District, Sri Lanka
Height	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)
University	Eastern University of Batticaloa
Occupation	netball player, banking assistant
Netball career
Playing position(s): S
Medal record Representing  Sri Lanka 2009 Malaysia Netball 2018 Singapore Netball 2022 Singapore Netball 2012 Sri Lanka Netball 2014 Singapore Netball

She has represented Sri Lanka at the INF Netball World Cup in 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023.^[8] She has represented Sri Lanka at Asian Netball Championships five times in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2022. She became the oldest player to play in the history of the Netball World Cup at the age of 40 when she appeared at the 2019 Netball World Cup.^[9] She subsequently broke her own record of being the oldest ever netball player to appear in World Cup when she competed during the 2023 Netball World Cup at the age of 44.

Biography

Tharjini was the fifth of the six children to a family in Evinai, Punnalaikadduvan, Jaffna District.^[10] Her father was a chili farmer.^[11] While young, she faced discrimination as a result of her height and was also nicknamed as "Genie" due to her height.^[12][13] She pursued her primary education at the Visalam Central College.^[14]

She and her family were also affected during the Sri Lankan Civil War with their house being damaged at that time.^[4] She and her family moved to Batticaloa at the age of 20.^[15] Tharjini Sivalingam is a Bachelor of Arts graduate as she holds a degree in Economics from the Eastern University in Batticaloa.^[16]

Career

She was recognized by the former Sri Lankan netball team coach, Thilaka Jinadasa, in 2004 because of her shooting skills at the university level netball championships.^[17][18] Shiranthi Rajapaksa, the wife of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who attended as a chief guest to watch a domestic netball match in Vavuniya in 2004 had firmly suggested Tharjini to join the national team after being impressed with her performance during the match. However, Tharjini initially turned down the offer due to her language related issues.

She was selected for the Sri Lankan national netball team in 2009 and since then she has been a regular member. Tharjini was part of the Sri Lankan team which won the 2009 Asian Netball Championships and was also the part of the national team which emerged as runners-up in the 2012 Asian Netball Championships and in the 2014 Asian Netball Championships.^[19]

She continued her dream run as she was awarded the title of Best Shooter in the 2011 World Netball Championships for scoring 290 goals in the tournament despite Sri Lanka's first round exit. In 2017, she was sacked from the national side due to the political issues and was replaced by Chathurangi Jayasooriya as the national team captain.^[20] She made her way back to the national squad in 2018 with the return of Thilaka Jinadasa as the national coach.^[21][22]

She also serves as a banking assistant at Seylan Bank and represents Seylan Bank in the mercantile netball association tournament as well.^[23][24] She joined Seylan Bank in 2005 and works at the Liability Products Management Department of Seylan Bank.^[25][26]

In 2017, she received a scholarship from the Australian City West Falcons netball club and went on to play for the City West Falcons club, becoming the only Sri Lankan to play for a foreign netball club.^{[27][28][29][30][31][32]} She also received Best Shooter of the Year Award as well as Fairest Player of City Falcon Award 2017 for her impressive performances for the club in her debut season.^[25]

After returning to Sri Lankan national netball team for the first time since 2015, she played a key role in winning the 2018 Asian Netball Championships being the unbeaten team in the tournament defeating Singapore 69-50 in the final to make it a fifth Asian Championship title for Sri Lanka and their first title since 2009.^[33][34][35] During the 2018 Asian Championships, Tharjini received the Player of the tournament award for her outstanding aggressive skills.^[36][37]

In July 2019, during the 2019 Netball World Cup Sivalingam made her 100th international appearance for Sri Lanka, becoming the first Sri Lankan to do so.^[38] She was the tournament's top-scorer with 348 goals in 375 attempts (scored in seven matches), 44 clear of Jamaica's Jhaniele Fowler and also recorded the most points (77) by a player in a single match at the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup.^[39][40] In December 2019, she received the Most Popular Sports Personality of the Year Award at the fifth annual SLT SILK Sports Awards.^[41]

She made a comeback return to the Sri Lankan national team for the 2022 Asian Netball Championships as she previously retired post the 2019 World Cup. She was granted permission to participate at the 2022 Asian Netball Championships which was held in Singapore and Sri Lanka was able to defend the title defeating Singapore in the final 63-53.^[42][43]

She was named in the Sri Lankan squad at the 2023 Netball World Cup where she made her fourth and final World Cup appearance. She subsequently announced her official international retirement after the 2023 World Cup which was held in South Africa.^[44][45][46]

Awards

• World's Best Shooter Award - 2011
• Best Asia Shooter Awards - 2009, 2012
• Best Shooter of the Year Award, Fairest Player of City Falcon Award - 2017
• Asian Championship Player of the Tournament - 2018
• SLT Most Popular Sports Personality of the Year Award - 2019
• Sports Icon Award - Maldives Sports Awards 2022^[47]

References

1. "Tharjini Sivalingam". Netball World Cup. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
2. "Watch a 'masterclass' in how to defend against a 6ft 11in shooter". BBC Sport.
3. "Height a huge factor in netball". The Chronicle. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
4. "Tharjini Sivalingam: The 40-year-old tallest netballer in the world who almost never misses". NewsIn.Asia. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
5. "Sri Lanka Out for Asian Glory - Sports | Daily Mirror". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
6. Liverpool, Rebecca Myers and Sophie Reynolds. "Netball World Cup: shortest player runs rings round tallest, but Australia triumphs". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
7. "A Look Back at the career of Asia's Tallest Netballer - Daily Sports". dailysports.lk. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
8. "Netball: Head and shoulders above the rest". NZ Herald. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
9. "Tharjini Sivalingam". Netball Draft Central. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
10. Senthilselvan, Ushanth (25 December 2018). "Photos: Felicitation of Tharjini Sivalingam by her village society". ThePapare.com. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
11. "Being a Tamil never bothered me as player – Tharjini Sivalingam". The Morning - Sri Lanka News. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
12. "A player with many highs in her life". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
13. gossiplanka. "THARJINI WITH MANY HIGHS IN HER LIFE". www.english.gossiplankanews.com. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
14. "Sri Lanka Sports News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers". archives.dailynews.lk. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
15. "Sri Lanka's Genie towers above the competition, but she hasn't had an easy ride". Sunday Observer. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
16. ""බයේ එදා හැංගිලා හිටිය නම්, අද මම මේ තත්ත්වයේ නැහැ"". BBC News සිංහල (in Sinhala). Retrieved 11 July 2021.
17. "Acing it for Sri Lanka". 26 October 2014.
18. Srinivasan, Meera (29 September 2018). "Two world cups, different hopes". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
19. "Sri Lanka's 207 Centimetres Tall Tamil Netball Champion | World Pulse". World Pulse (in French). 16 September 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
20. "Lanka's Ace Netball Shooter Tharjini Sivalingam Out of National Side Due to Problems with Current Netball Administrators and Coach.Now Tharjini has joined with the national squad with the return of the coach Thilaka Jinadasa". dbsjeyaraj.com. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
21. Vasudevan, Estelle (29 January 2018). "National Netball pool of 30 selected".
22. Wijewickrama, Navod (21 December 2017). "Thilaka Jinadasa new National Netball coach".
23. Today, Business. "BUSINESS TODAY -Seylan's Tharjini Sivalingam". www.businesstoday.lk. Retrieved 1 November 2017. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
24. "Tharjini Sivalingam of Seylan Bank dazzles at Asian Netball Championship 2018". Adaderana Biz English | Sri Lanka Business News. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
25. "Tharjini shines at Australian Netball League".
26. "Tharjini thanks employer Seylan Bank". Sunday Observer. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
27. "World tallest netball player Sri Lankan Tharjini Sivalingam flying high in Australian netball arena". SBS Your Language. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
28. "Geelong Advertiser". www.geelongadvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
29. "Geelong Advertiser". www.geelongadvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
30. "Tharjini Sivalingam to play netball in Australia - Daily Sports". dailysports.lk. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
31. hermes (8 September 2018). "Netball: Tharjini, An Najwa blaze trail for Asian players". The Straits Times. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
32. Admin (3 May 2017). "Tharjini ready to make an impact". ThePapare.com. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
33. hermesauto (9 September 2018). "Netball: Sri Lanka prove too strong for Singapore as they triumph 69-50 in Asian Championship final". The Straits Times. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
34. "Tharjini's army on the rampage in Singapore". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
35. "Netball: Sri Lanka defeat Singapore 74-61 at M1 Asian Championship". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
36. "Art of winning outside netball court". Retrieved 14 September 2018.
37. "Let's play like a girl? | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
38. "Tharjini Sivalingam: 100 Caps for the Sri Lankan Netball Team". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
39. Vasudevan, Estelle (19 July 2019). "Tharjini renews record; Sri Lanka register thumping win". ThePapare.com. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
40. "வலைப்பந்தாட்ட உலகக்கோப்பையில் ஈழத் தமிழ் பெண் சாதனை - யார் இந்த தர்ஜினி சிவலிங்கம்?". BBC News தமிழ் (in Tamil). Retrieved 11 July 2021.
41. "Tharjini, Matthew Abeysinghe bag top prizes at Silk Awards". Sunday Observer. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
42. "Gayanjali to lead Sri Lanka at Asian Netball Tournament". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
43. Ratnaweera, Dhammika. "Sri Lankan Netballers in glorious win to retain Asian title". Daily News. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
44. "Tharjini Sivalingam retires from international netball - Breaking News | Daily Mirror". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
45. "Netball tower Tharjini takes a bow". Sunday Observer. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
46. "Sri Lanka Netball star Tharjini Sivalingam retires". NewsWire. 7 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
47. "Sanath & Tharjini win prestigious 'Sports Icon' award at Maldives Sports Awards". NewsWire. 18 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.