KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (Bernama) -- The Sri Lankan netball team put up a commanding display to outclass Singapore 77-48 in the final of the 7th Asian Netball Championship at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara here today.

It was Sri Lanka`s fourth title in eight years after last winning it in 2001. They also won the competition in 1990 and 1997 and were the runner-up in 1985 and 1993.

The victory came as sweet revenge for the team who redeemed their defeat at the hands of Singapore at the Five Nations Cup in the republic two years ago.

Last year, the Sri Lankans also lost to Singapore in the Asian Youth Cup held in Hong Kong.

`The feat at this year`s championship was important as it would spur the team to further improve on their world rankings in our bid to qualify for next year`s Commonwealth Games in India,` said the team coach Thilaka Jinadasa.

`By winning the championship again, we hope to take the game to a higher level in Sri Lanka and hopefully there`ll be more support,` she added.

The team once again banked on their lengthy goal shooter Tharjani Sivalingam and goal attack Shashika Samarasinghe to score.

In the final, Tharjini netted 74 goals while Shashika managed to slip in three.

Tharjini was also named the top scorer of the 10-day competition, having netted 380 goals for the team. After her came two Malaysian players, S. Aruna (152 goals) and Norashikin Kamal Zaman (128).

FINAL PLACING:

1. Sri Lanka

2. Singapore

3. Malaysia

4. Thailand

5. Hong Kong

6. Taiwan

7. India

8. Maldives

9. Pakistan

-- BERNAMA