Latvia defeated Romania with 108: 72 (37:16, 20: 9, 29:22, 22:25).
The Latvian national team started the match with a 21: 0 break until the beginning of the fifth minute, sketching the balance of strength.
During this time, Dairis Bertāns threw three three-point shots, adding an accurate free throw to one. Long shot with a free throw was taken by Dāvis Bertāns, but five points were in Arta Ate’s account.
The result of a 30-point difference was reached in the 18th minute after two exact free throws by Artūrs Strautiņš (55:24), but a 40-point advantage after a two-point throw by Marek Meyer 42 seconds before the end of the third quarter (84:44).
As a result of the biggest differences, Latvia reached in the 36th minute after Artūrs Kurucs’ two-point shot – 99:53.
In the Latvian national team, leaving Jānis Strēlnieks aside, all the other basketball players scored points. Three players scored 15 points each – Andrejs Gražulis, Rihards Lomažs and Dairis Bertāns, who also had six assists. 14 points for Dāvis Bertāns, 11 points for Mārtiņš Meiers and Klāvs Čavars, who won five rebounds. Strautiņš, on the other hand, accumulated nine points and rebounds.
For the Romanians, only Lucas Tohatan, who scored 17 points, exceeded the limit of ten points.
“Thanks to the team, who played very well in both defense and attack, spending all 40 minutes very intensely, with full dedication. Our match leaders did a great job. After the first minutes, the Romanians changed the defense system and started to play much more aggressively, but they were able to adapt quickly. ten mistakes in the game – this proves that everyone was very focused. Jānis Strēlnieks is ready to play, and it was my decision – seeing how the game progressed, I decided not to rush his return to the field. Now we are moving to the next game – rehabilitation and preparation, ”said the head coach of the Latvian national team Luka Banki after the match in a conversation with the press service representative of the Latvian Basketball Union (LBS).
“The task was to play as a team in both defense and attack, to move the ball, to involve all players,” said Dāvis Bertāns after the game. “We did it, and that was the main reason for the success. Everyone scored points, and such an attack helped the defense. Our match leaders -Krister Zoriks and Artūrs Kurucs put tremendous pressure on the opponents of the game, disrupting their game. ”
In the continuation of the competition in “Arena Riga”, the Latvian national team will compete with Romania on August 11 and with Belarus on August 8 and 12.
After the two-lap tournament, the two best teams will continue to fight for a ticket to the World Cup final in November.
The competition in the other three groups will start on August 12.
After a four-year break, Dāvis Bertāns rejoined the national unit, and after a two-and-a-half-year break, Jānis Strēlnieks. The three players – Rinald Mālmanis, Anrijs Miškis and Verner Kohs – did not have any experience of official fighting in the national team until the game with Romania.
15 players have entered the tournament in the Latvian men’s basketball national team. Out of 16 basketball players who participated in the training process, Oskars Siliņš, who cannot train and play at full capacity due to micro-injuries, will not participate in the pre-qualification tournament. Rolands Šmits and Aigars Šķēle were previously removed from the list of candidates due to injuries.
The Romanian national team has arrived in Riga with 14 players. Head coach Tudor Kosteski has 13 players from seven Romanian clubs, as well as Malman’s teammate in the Spanish team Murcia UCAM center player Emanuel Kate.
In the test matches, the Romanians played twice with the Austrian team – 58:79 and 73:68.
The Latvian and Romanian men’s national teams have played five games so far and Latvians have won in all of them. In the qualifying tournament of the European Championship in 2012, Latvia was superior with 89:53 and 85:77, in 2014 – with 88:65 and 82:70, but in 2017 it won the test game with 98:68.
The Latvian men’s national team started preparing for the 2023 World Cup pre-qualification tournament in mid-July.
During the preparation phase, the Latvian team spent one test and one training game with the Swiss and Slovak national teams. The victories in the test matches were won with 85:66 and 91:84, respectively, in the training games the Latvians were superior with 84:49 and 85:81.
The final of the World Cup in September 2023 will take place in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Composition of the Latvian national team for participation in the 2023 World Cup pre-qualification tournament:
Jānis Strēlnieks (Kaunas “Žalgiris”, Lithuania), Kristers Zoriks, Artis Ate, Anrijs Miška (all – “VEF Rīga”), Verners Kohs (“Liepāja”) Dairis Bertāns (Seville “Real Betis”, Spain), Rihards Lomažs ( Denizli Yukatel Merkezefendi, Turkey), Artūrs Kurucs (Vitoria Baskonia, Spain), Artūrs Strautiņš (Reggio di Emilia’s Unahotels, Italy), Dāvis Bertāns (Washington Wizards, NBA), Mareks Mejeris (Perm Parma) , Russia), Andrejs Gražulis (Alma in Trieste, Italy), Rinalds Malmanis (UCAM, Murcia, Spain), Klav Chavars (Astoria in Bydgoszcz, Poland), Mārtiņš Meiers (Elan in Chalon-sur-Saone, France).
