Mellony Wijesinghe
Mellony Wijesinghe (Sinhala: මෙලනී විජේසිංහ) (2002 – 20 October 2019) was a Sri Lankan netball player who played in the position of goal shooter in international netball tournaments. She died on 20 October 2019 from leukaemia.[1] She also served as vice captain of the national youth netball team until her death.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Born | 2002 | ||
Died |
20 October 2019 16–17) Maharagama | (aged||
Occupation | netball player | ||
Netball career | |||
Playing position(s): goal shooter |
Education
She initially pursued her primary education in Vihara Maha Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Kiribathgoda and received a scholarship to join Visakha Vidyalaya.[2]
Playing career
While pursuing her education, she continued to play netball in domestic and international level. She made her World Netball Youth Cup during the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup.[1] Sri Lanka finished at nineteenth position during the World Cup tournament. She was appointed as the vice-captain of the national youth team in June 2019.[3] She was also a key member of the Sri Lankan youth team which finished at third position at the 2019 Asian Youth Netball Championship.[4] During the competition, she emerged as the top goal scorer with 106 and received the Best Shooter Award.[5]
She was compared to Sri Lankan national veteran netball player Tharjini Sivalingam mainly for her shooting skills. She was groomed to take over the national team after emerging in youth level.
Death
She was complaining of a shoulder pain after competing at the All Island Schools Netball Championship in August 2019. She became ill and subsequently admitted to the Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama.[6] It was later discovered that she was confronting severe Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.[2] She died at the hospital on 20 October 2019 after receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit.[6]
References
- Wijewickrama, Navod (2019-10-20). "Sri Lanka Youth Netballer passes away". ThePapare.com. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- "The curious case of Mellony Wijesinghe". Times Online - Daily Online Edition of The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- Ramakrishnan, Karuppiah. "Sri Lanka team off to Japan for Asian Youth Netball Championship". Daily News. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- Wijewickrama, Navod (2019-07-01). "Mellony scores a hundred; Sri Lanka shows no mercy to Nepal". ThePapare.com. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- Welmilla, Hishan (2019-07-03). "Sri Lanka qulified for Semi Finals in Asian Youth Netball Championship". www.srilankasports.com. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- "Netballer Melony Lost Her Bout with Leukaemia". www.srilankaolympic.org. Retrieved 2019-11-04.