Tharjini Sivalingam

Tharjini Sivalingam
Personal information
Born (1978-12-30) 30 December 1978 (age 45)
Punnalaikadduvan, Jaffna District, Sri Lanka
Height 2.10 m (6 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
University Eastern University of Batticaloa
Occupation netball player, banking assistant
Netball career
Playing position(s): GS
Medal record
Representing  Sri Lanka
Gold medal – first place 2009 Malaysia Netball
Gold medal – first place 2018 Singapore Netball
Gold medal – first place 2022 Singapore Netball
Silver medal – second place 2012 Sri Lanka Netball
Silver medal – second place 2014 Singapore Netball

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 210 cm or 6 ft 10.5in,[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 the Sri Lanka national 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 a warzone.

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.

  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.