Mellony Wijesinghe

Mellony Wijesinghe () (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.  She also served as vice captain of the national youth netball team until her death. 

Education 
She initially pursued her primary education in Vihara Maha Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Kiribathgoda and received a scholarship to join Visakha Vidyalaya. 

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.  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.  She was also a key member of the Sri Lankan youth team which finished at third position at the 2019 Asian Youth Netball Championship.  During the competition, she emerged as the top goal scorer with 106 and received the Best Shooter Award. 

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.  It was later discovered that she was confronting severe Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.  She died at the hospital on 20 October 2019 after receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit. 

References 

Category:2002 births
Category:2019 deaths
Category:Sri Lankan netball players