National basketball team miss flight to Thailand

You may miss a bus or a train but very rarely in life do you miss a flight. People prepare days or weeks in advance before they make a trip overseas. Last week, the national basketball team entered the record books by missing their flight to Thailand where they were set to participate in FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.

With the players and support staff comprising 17 individuals missing the flight, Sri Lanka Basketball Federation was forced to purchase new tickets from a different airline costing the mother body an arm and a leg.

At a time when the sport is struggling to make ends meet, the team’s careless attitude has come under intense criticism.

The team had little time to acclimate to conditions, and missing the original flight made things worse as Sri Lanka had to play their first game soon after all the hassles at the airport.

They were soundly beaten by Kazakhstan in their opening game 66-34 while Jordan too beat Sri Lanka 82-41.

The team’s last game against hosts Thailand is on Tuesday.