Latvia‘s 3×3 Men’s Basketball Team Opens European Cup with Dominant Victory
COPENHAGEN – Latvia’s 3×3 men’s basketball team launched their European Cup campaign with a decisive 21-7 victory over Ireland on Friday in Copenhagen. The Latvian squad, featuring Nauris Miezis, Francis Laci, Zigmar Raimo, and Richard Kuksiks, demonstrated strong offensive play to secure the win in their opening Group C match.
The victory marks the start of Latvia’s pursuit of a European Cup title, a competition where they have consistently excelled. The team claimed the European championship in 2017, followed by silver medals in 2018 and 2022, and a bronze in 2023. This success culminated in an Olympic Championship title at the 2021 Tokyo Games. The team’s recent successes have been built around a core of players including Miezis, Karlis Lasmanis, Agnis Čavars, and edgars Krūmiņš, though Lasmanis is sidelined with an injury.
kuksiks led the Latvian scoring with 11 points, including five accomplished long-range shots. Miezis contributed four points, and Raimo added one. george Blaunts topped the scoring for Ireland with three points. Miezis secured the win with a crucial free throw made with 3 minutes and 55 seconds remaining in the game.
Latvia will face the Netherlands, the reigning Paris Olympic Games champions and third seed in the tournament, at 9:30 pm local time. The match will be live-streamed on the FIBA3X3 YouTube channel.
The top two teams from Group C will advance to the quarter-finals on Sunday, where they will compete against teams from Group A (Serbia, Italy, Switzerland). Group B (France, Hungary, Germany) and Group D (Austria, Denmark, Lithuania) will also play their qualifying rounds on Saturday.
Prior to the tournament,Kuksiks replaced the injured Karlis Lasmanis on the Latvian roster.The Latvian women’s 3×3 team did not qualify for the European Cup final.
