Sri Lanka’s Under-21 women’s hockey team secured a spot in the Junior Asian Cup by defeating Indonesia 2-1 in their fourth/fifth place match at the Women’s Junior AHF Cup 2024, concluded in Singapore.
Dilhani Rajapaksha opened the scoring for Sri Lanka with a goal in the second minute of the game. They further extended their lead to 2-0 in the 45th minute of the third quarter, courtesy of a goal scored by Malmi Gunaratne.
Indonesia’s Iditya Innes narrowed the gap with a goal in the 51st minute of the final quarter, making it 2-1. However, Sri Lanka held on to their lead until full time, clinching victory.
Malmi Gunaratne was named the Player of the Match for her outstanding performance.
With this result, Sri Lanka’s U-21 girls finished fourth overall, securing qualification for next year’s Junior Asian Cup along with the top five teams. In contrast, Sri Lanka’s U-21 men’s team ended in 11th place after losing all four of their Pool ‘A’ games, failing to qualify for the Junior Asian Cup.
SAJEEWA JAYAKODY
