Sri Lanka women leave for Japan in pursuit of a medal
Sri Lanka CricketNews article
The Sri Lanka women’s cricket team left for Japan tonight (14) to compete in the women’s cricket tournament at the 2026 Asian Games in the Aichi-Nagoya area. The women’s cricket tournament will be held from September 17 to 22, with Sri Lanka scheduled to face Malaysia in their first challenge.
Speaking about Sri Lanka’s path ahead, captain Chamari Athapaththu said she expected them to face Pakistan in the semi-final if they beat Malaysia in their opening match, and that her team hoped to win that game as well and reach the final.
“Our first opponents will be Malaysia. If we win that match, we believe we will face Pakistan in the quarter-final. We hope to win that match as well and reach the final,” Chamari said.
Chamari also said playing at an Asian Games in Japan would be a new experience for her. She noted that, having never previously competed at an Asian Games in Japan, this year’s tournament would be a special experience.
However, she said it was impossible to predict exactly how the pitches in Japan would behave, adding that she hoped they would be of a suitable standard for the tournament.
Chamari also pointed out that preparations for the tournament had come after an extremely busy period of cricket. She added that several key Sri Lankan players were currently dealing with illnesses, posing a challenge for the team.
She also said Nilakshi de Silva and Vishmi Gunaratne had suffered injuries after playing in the Asia Cup final, where Sri Lanka finished runners-up, and that Hansima Karunaratne and Anushka Sanjeewani had consequently been added to the team. She said she believed fatigue caused by the short turnaround before the tournament may have contributed to those injuries.
Commenting on the defeat to India in the Asia Cup final, Chamari said the match had slipped away from Sri Lanka within the first few overs. She added that their failure to control the powerplay properly had been a major factor in the loss.
Nevertheless, Sri Lanka are ready to learn from those experiences and produce a better brand of cricket at the Asian Games.
This year’s Asian Games women’s cricket tournament will begin directly with the quarter-finals, with Sri Lanka scheduled to face Malaysia, India to meet Japan, Pakistan to play Thailand and Bangladesh to take on China in the opening matches.
India won the gold medals in both the women’s and men’s cricket events at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. India will therefore once again enter the tournament as one of the strongest teams, while the Sri Lanka women’s side will begin their campaign with a medal in their sights.
The women’s cricket tournament will be held from September 17 to 22, while the men’s cricket tournament is scheduled to take place from September 24 to October 1 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Based on Sri Lanka Cricket reporting