The Latvian men’s basketball team will host Serbia in the 2023 World Cup qualifying cycle on June 30 at Arena Riga and will visit Slovakia on July 3. In preparation for these games, the Latvian national team will play two test matches with the national team, hosting its southern neighbors on June 22.
Voluntary individual training of the men’s basketball team started on Monday in Riga. It has already been reported that the Latvian striker Dāvis Bertāns of the Dallas “Mavericks” team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is participating in the training.
The Latvian Basketball Union (LBS) reports that Francis Lācis, who has completed his career at the National College Sports Association (NCAA), Dairis Bertāns, Lomažs, Klāvs Čavars, Toms Leimanis, Mārtiņš Laksa, Kārlis Šiliņš, Kārlis Žunda, Anrijs Miška, Dāvids Vīksne, Edvards Mežulis, Oskars Hlebovickis, Roberts Bērziņš and Reinis Avotiņš.
Volunteer training is led by the state unit’s physical fitness coach Oskars Ernšteins, as well as the state unit’s volunteer coaches Mārtiņš Tīss and Kristaps Zeids.
Several national team candidates are training under the guidance of their personal trainers, while some are still playing national championship games for club teams.
The official training camp will start on Thursday, June 16. It is expected to be attended by 15 basketball players, including representatives of the NBA and European clubs.
The Latvian national team has won three victories in the first four games of Group A of the 2023 World Cup qualifying tournament, as well as experienced a minimal loss to the guests against Serbia. The Latvian and Serbian national teams have already secured the right to play in the second stage of the qualification. In the game on June 30, in which Latvia will host Serbia, it will be decided which team will take the first place in the group.
In the second stage, the top three teams in Group A will compete with the teams in Group B (Greece, Turkey and the UK). The two games will take place in August, November and February 2023. The top three teams out of six will qualify for the final tournament.
