Annette Steinberg | Photo: Zane Bitere/LETA
The Latvian women’s basketball team, despite having already secured a place in the finals of the 2023 European Championship, will also fight for victory in the last qualifying match, national team player Anete Šteinberga said in a conversation with journalists.
After the victory over Israel in the last match, the Latvian national team secured a place in the final tournament of the European Championship, and from the point of view of the tournament table, the away game against Sweden on February 12 is not important, but the Latvian basketball players will try to close the qualification cycle with four successes in the same matches.
“We are aware that the work is done, but we always want to win,” Steinberga did not hide. “Putting on the shirt of Latvia, there is a sense of responsibility, that you are representing your country and no one will come to play just like that. We do our work to the end. I think the game will be exciting because they have also got their leaders and stars back, but our tactics will not change. This time there is no Elina [Babkinas]but we also hope to maintain the quality of our game.”
Steinberg suffered a shoulder injury in the second half of last season that required surgery to fully heal. The basketball player stated that she is satisfied with the way the rehabilitation process went, allowing her to return to basketball in almost the same quality as before. “My goal was to be ready to represent the Latvian national team after the operation and, of course, to accept that recovery after the shoulder operation is not easy and I will not immediately be the same as I was before,” she said. “I also needed to accept what I can do and step by step to be able to do everything the way I did before the injury”
Although the basketball player revealed that she still does not feel that she has sufficient range of motion and strength in her shoulder, the playing time allotted to her on the court in the French team Bourges “Tango” has only increased during the season. “In the beginning, I played about 20 minutes, but that was because the coach spared me so as not to overload my shoulder. I also felt the load after the games,” explained the basketball player. “Now, at the end of November, after the national team, I sprained my ankle, which took me another month. With the beginning of January, the playing minutes have gone up a lot.”
The goal of the club represented by Steinberg this year is to become the champion team in the French championship and triumph in the French Cup, but also to fight for a place in the FIBA Euroleague playoffs, as this would help secure a place in the Euroleague next season as well. “It’s important not only to finish the season as champions, but also because the winners of both the regular season and the play-offs and the Coupe de France decide the places in the Euroleague. France is preparing for the Paris Olympics and it has been said that the club with the most French players next year will get a ticket to the Euroleague. The other clubs have to try to get as high a place as possible in order to also be able to secure a place in the Euroleague.”
Also, Steinberga added that there are often a lot of fans at the matches of the Bourges team, filling the home arena, which has about five thousand seats. “Each team has its own group of supporters. There will always be a lot of spectators at our games, because everyone wants to win Burža and everyone comes to these games both at home and away,” highlighted the basketball player. “It’s nice to have a full arena after two seasons affected by Covid-19, when no one could come at all. We are the only club in Bourges, so we are like a family to the fans. Everyone gets involved not only in supporting, but also in sponsoring.”
In the qualification group J of the European Championship, Latvia has three victories in the same matches, Israel has one success and two losses, while Sweden has experienced failures in both matches played. The final tournament of the 2023 European Championship will take place from June 15 to 25. In the first stage, the two group tournaments and round of 16 matches will take place in Israel and Slovenia, while the elimination tournament is scheduled for Slovenia. The top five teams will qualify for the Olympic qualification tournament.
