Manila, Philippines, August 13, 2017 — Thilini Perera capped off what Wasana Dharmatissa started as both starred in Sri Lanka’s scintillating 5-set win over Hong Kong 25-14, 14-25, 25-23, 23-25, 16-14 in their Pool G match-up at the SMM 19th Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship.
Down 11-13 down the stretch, Perera came alive to save the day and unloaded two powerful kills to finish the tight contest that lasted for more than 2 hours and keep Pool A’s last placer Hong Kong winless.
Perera finished with 15 points but her game-sealing spikes won’t be possible if not of the stellar performance of the small but terrible Dharmatissa, who collected game-high 25 markers off 22 kills and 2 blocks.
Coming off a frustrating loss to New Zealand on Saturday, the Sri Lankans, who got also a big lift from captain Jayamaha Prasadani, won’t be denied anymore in picking up their first win in the tourney –a timely victory as they gave themselves a chance not to crash in the last spot of the 14-team field.
“They are very tired in our loss to New Zealand but I know we can be better,” said Sri Lanka head coach Hewage Diwalapa.
Yeung Sau Mei had 23 while To Wing Man chipped in 22 in a losing effort for Hong Kong, which committed 29 unforced errors in the entire game that opened the opportunity for the testy Sri Lanka side to snatch the win.
Sri Lanka now hope New Zealand will also beat winless Hong Kong to avoid any complication on which team will be dropped to the 13th-14th classification game.
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